What It Takes to Win the Game
by TaintedMoonlight
Summary: --AU-- The curse is gone, the danger is moot, but nothing ends happily in a magical route. Fairies have trouble with their rulers and governments too, and currently, the ones in charge are not too happy with humans mixing in their world. -SEQUEL to WiTMS-
1. Prologue

**_What It Takes To Win the Game_**

_Prologue_

* * *

**A/N:** Hello all! I'm back with a sequel to What it Takes to Make Her Smile. If you haven't read that one, I highly suggest you go read it first.

I decided to the 'fairy business' story. I may or may not ever do the Ino/Sasuke story. Who knows?

* * *

"I'm going to kill you!" Kankurou snarled, attempting to jump _through_ the table to get at the somewhat gangly human.

The human backed away nervously. "Oh, come now! I didn't mean it that way! That was an accident, I swear!"

"Accident, my ass, human!" Kankurou, seeing that the table was actually _impeding_ him from reaching the dark haired man, settled instead for running around the table to get to the human. Shikamaru on the other hand, had no intention of getting caught, so he instead ran around the table in the direction opposite of Kankurou. "Stop moving!" Kankurou snarled.

"Right, _that_ would be a smart course of action!" Shikamaru said sarcastically.

"If either of you two break something, I'll break you both." A blonde sitting at the table the two males were currently running around threatened calmly. She sipped something out of a porcelain cup serenely, as if the sight of the two males attempting to kill each other were a commonplace occurrence.

Sad as it were to say, such a thing _was_ a very commonplace occurrence in their household.

"If you break me," the dark haired human explained slightly out of breath, "I can't be put back together. In fact, if _he_ breaks me I can't be put back together!"

"Shame." She dismissed his words easily, her wings perfectly still.

"Are they at it again?" A new voice sighed. Not awaiting a response, most likely because he would not receive one, the bloody-haired man made a slight motion with his hands causing sand to slide in from the windowsill and wrap around both the running males stopping them in their place just as Kankurou was an inch away from being close enough to effectively wallop Shikamaru.

"You're up late!" Shikamaru accused in a panic. "He could've killed me, Gaara!"

"I doubt," He muttered, "Temari really would have let him kill you. Perhaps bruise you. At most break your arm and that's if she was too slow to respond, but definitely not kill you."

"As comforting as the thought of having only a broken arm sounds, I'd rather not be harmed or maimed in any way whatsoever." Shikamaru muttered in an affront.

"Perhaps," Temari raised her eyes from the rim of her cup to him, "If you stopped experimenting on him, situations such as this would not occur anymore."

"I was not experimenting, per say…" Shikamaru grumbled.

"I had an extra arm this morning!" Kankurou snarled.

Despite the fact that Kankurou was rooted to the ground, Shikamaru leant back as far as he could, afraid the fairy would magically jump from his bind on the floor and launch at him. "How do you know that was my doing? What if your body just magically decided to give you an extra arm?"

"So you said 'Oops, I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen' because it was nature's doing!?"

Shikamaru blinked. "Saying 'yes' would make me sound really stupid, right now, so I'll just say that, well, you have two arms _now,_ don't you?"

Temari smacked her lips just as Kankurou let out a stream of obscenities. Setting her tea cup down on the table she eyed the two grounded males before her. "Mm, Gaara, you mind letting Shikamaru go?"

The redhead took a seat at the table, a purple fruit in his hands. "Why?" He bit the fruit calmly.

"I'm bored." Temari shrugged.

Gaara flicked his left hand slightly and the sand rooting Shikamaru to the ground released immediately.

"This isn't fair!" Kankurou complained. "He gives _me_ an extra arm and I have to stay stuck the ground?!"

Gaara munched his food slowly. "If I let you go, will you still try to kill him?"

"Yes." He sneered matter-of-factly.

"Then, yes, you do have to stay stuck to the ground."

Shikamaru shook some stray sand from his pants in annoyance. "No matter how many times you do that I never get used to it." He still hadn't finished when Temari's hands draped around his neck and she stretched up to touch his lips with her own.

Kankurou made some gagging sounds and bold-faced comments on the atrociousness of their relationship. Gaara ignored them completely. "Hell, if that's all you wanted to do, you could've done that with him rooted to the floor." He muttered.

Shikamaru felt himself melting in his blonde fairy's embrace as her tongue swerved in his own mouth in dominance. He would easily cave to _any_ of his princess's desires.

All four members of the household started as a loud _bang_ reached all their ears. Temari's wings began twitching nervously. "Gaara, what was that?"

She didn't have to await a response as a tall imposing fairy entered the room. He was solid as a tree, had a gouging gaze, had thin raking fingers, was shrouded in a nature-like substance that spread across his earthen skin, and half of his face was covered in the same earthy material so that only one side of his face was really visible.

"'The hell are you doing in our house?" Kankurou snarled furiously.

While Gaara and Temari did not say a word, they too felt just as angry at the tree-like man's arrival.

The large man nodded, "Kankurou, Gaara, Temari," An unusual smile worked its way across his lips, "Nice to see you again."

Temari's wings wouldn't stop fluttering in a cross between anger and fear. Shikamaru immediately understanding the ill-boding situation, shifted slightly behind Temari and instead of speaking focused on analyzing the situation. He figured new fairies wouldn't be quite so receptive and understanding about him.

"Baki, what the _hell_ do you want?" Kankurou snarled again, taking a step towards the tall man.

"It isn't so much as what I want, as what the council wants."

"We don't give a crap for the council." Temari snapped, "Now get out before we hurt you."

"Sorry, I can't follow your demands, Temari." His smile fell, "I'm under strict orders. Plus," he waved his hands to the window, "If you'd care to see, I have people to force you do to what is necessary if you refuse."

The four inhabitants of the household glanced quickly outside the window. True to his word, a large collection of fairies awaited below. Most of them seeming bored and heavily vicious. Temari gritted her teeth together in anger. Kankurou's fists curled in cold fury.

Gaara pushed away from the table and faced the tall man directly. "Very well, Baki, what is it that the council desires?" If Shikamaru didn't know any better he would say that it almost seemed like Gaara wanted to talk to the council – whatever they were.

"I'm glad to see one of you has acquired a civil tongue and smart mind." His eyes flicked to Shikamaru. "The council has serious questions and concerns over your recent…household addition." He paused. "The council wants you all to report to the command center where they'll discuss it and the problems it poses."

Shikamaru absently realized he was the 'it' in question. How nice. He was now demoted to an 'it'.

Temari shifted in front of Shikamaru. "What does that mean exactly?"

Baki smiled genuinely. "Because I feel you three have been cheated in the past, I'll give it to you straight. I'll give you what they don't really want you to know just yet."

"Well, spit it out!" Temari demanded.

"Temari!" Gaara snapped in warning. "Silence."

"Amusing." Baki uttered at the brief interaction. Face sobering, he looked Gaara directly in the eye. "They want the human dead."

Shikamaru swallowed. Well that was a brilliant way to start the day.

A wave of uncertainty and despair settled among the four inhabitants. Temari began to hyperventilate. "This is bad." Kankurou looked just about ready to rip someone piece from piece, and even Gaara looked upset and perturbed by the news. "This is _very_ bad." Temari repeated.

And then she fainted.

* * *

**A/N:** First, I have to say, you guys are _all _awesome reviewers, truly, but I have to say that I dedicate this sequel to **Amnesty **and **ContheDistance **who both helped (I think it was unintentional on both their parts –shrug– ) spur the idea for this sequel. Oh, and for **Linorria**, who like me also loves and expects happy endings. (This one won't disappoint, I hope.)

I'll try to update at least once every two weeks.


	2. Cut It Off At the Roots

**Ch.1: **Cut It Off At the Roots

* * *

Since the very minute she regained consciousness, Temari's actions boomeranged between glaring, ranting, and plotting out possible results in the air with her finger. Her wings had been fluttering nonstop, and her mouth had not ceased making noise since it opened. "Dead? Hah! Fools wish! I will cut their throats! Disembowel them all with a rusty spoon and then make pudding pie of their innards."

Shikamaru was strangely calm for a person who was probably about to be killed in the next four hours. "She's a bit more violent than the lot of you, you realize?" He mumbled somberly.

Neither of the males responded her. Gaara continued glaring at the wall of their current dwellings as if it would crumble under his gaze. Kankurou cracked his knuckles periodically, slow gurgling growls erupting from his gut.

"I see neither of you have moved." Baki commented simply as he entered the room.

Temari flew up from her seat on the mossy bed. "I refuse. I adamantly refuse to take part in whatever the council wishes to do. I quit you lot. You all quit me. We were happy that way." Her lips were pursed and eyes a furious black coal. Shikamaru wondered if her appearance scared the rather tall tree-like creature. It was certainly frightening enough.

"Temari, when you involve a human in fairy affairs, it ceases to be your problem alone."

"What fairy affairs!?" Temari lifted some feet off the air, her nose pointed straight at Baki's own. "I don't think I've let him in on any fae nonsense." She snapped. "I've only let him in on my own affairs."

"The council believes him a threat."

"Explain to me how." Temari dared furiously.

"Temari, please, feet back on the ground and face away from mine."

She shook violently. "No! No! No! We're going home. H-O-M-E. And you are going to tell those idiots in charge that we are none of their business."

"That is not up for me to decide."

Before Temari could start ranting again, Gaara cut in. "Temari, it's best if we follow their protocol. Maybe that way we can convince them otherwise. Not seeing them would only cause more suspicion and anger on their part. If they don't see it our way…" he paused, "Then we figure it out."

Temari slowly lowered back to the floor, her wings though, did not halt their flapping fury. "Fine." Shikamaru felt her hand close around his own. "I presume they want to see us now?"

"They want to see _him_."

Temari scoffed. "They want him? They get me too. Package deal."

"Baki," Gaara cleared his throat, "seeing as his death affects us all, I believe we should all be present."

"I was told—"

"If this council has any objections, I would like to speak privately with them on the matter as to our special circumstances. I'm sure they will see reason in this respect." Gaara explained smoothly.

"I will bring up the issue." Baki said stiffly. The oak of the man then swirled out of the room, stepping out in the most grandeur way possible.

Shikamaru marveled at the proceedings. He'd never quite seen Gaara take charge so suddenly. He always assumed that as the eldest Temari would be the voice of the siblings. Maybe she would be if the situation didn't anger her so much. Even with Temari out, Shikamaru would've presumed Kankurou would take the role, but the purple marked fairy had yet to utter a word.

Shikamaru winced as Temari's grip on his hand reached unseemly proportions. "Please stop squeezing my hand, Temari."

"I'm not squeezing your hand."

"It's purple."

"Purple's good for you."

"Temari!"

She let go slightly. Her face was clouded in doubt and worry. "Die? Die? Like hell you'll die. I'll kill you before that happens."

"A bit of a pointless action, don't you think? Either way I cease to exist." Shikamaru mumbled.

A loud slam sent Shikamaru jumping a few feet in the air. To the left of him Kankurou had punched the heavy clay wall leave a crumbling hole. Shikamaru seemed to be the only one paying him any mind; his actions did not make Temari or Gaara falter in the least. Shikamaru considered saying something, but figured there was nothing he could say. He wasn't even sure why Kankurou was so furious.

Kankurou's fists shook. "Why are you so calm?" He hissed.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Not sure. Lack of reality, I guess. All feels like one giant dream."

Temari slapped him when he said that. "Well, _wake up_!"

"I don't get the point anyway; why are we scared of these people?" The lazy human sighed.

Kankurou seemed to be having trouble forming words rather than indiscernible growls, "The council runs the fae on the pretext of keeping control, but all they do is mess with the nature of things and amuse themselves by harming others." He curled his fist, "These things are murderers and all of our kind smiles and thanks them for their supposed justice." He slammed the other fist in the wall making a matching dent. "It's sickening."

"I guess this isn't the first time they've screwed you over." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Other than our father's foolishness," Temari said softly, "they're responsible for all of our hardship."

Shikamaru stared around the dark and earthy room. It smelled nice and felt like home, but it wasn't home. It was a temporary cell for his impending execution. How did fae kill anyway? Would it be painless? Looking at his three family members, he found himself hoping so. They were angry and irrational, something he found only happened when they were at wits' end. Well, save for Gaara, who never seemed to act very irrational. Scary, livid, and quiet reactions were more his forte.

The oak creature wandered into the room once more. "They've agreed to see you _all. _And they wish to do so now."

Temari's grip on his fingers tightened again. Shikamaru stared absently at the floor. Shouldn't he feel a little more uncertain at meeting these creatures? He should feel something to that effect, but all he could really think of was that the way the vines curled into parts of the strong clay wall seemed to bring the castle itself together. It was such nice architecture.

Baki swished out just as abruptly and extravagantly as before. Temari pulled Shikamaru along after the tree-man. Gaara took to Shikamaru's left one step ahead while Kankurou trudged behind them by about four steps. Onward to the executioner's block, Shikamaru thought sullenly.

Baki led them to a rather large ornate wooden door. The door was four times taller than he himself was, carved with illustrations of leaves, flowers, bushes, two simple Latin phrases, and ancient fairy symbols. Gaara had been teaching him to read the fairy symbols; from what he could gather the words 'we are just' were carved in the door along with the phrases _ad finem _and _ab initio_. "To the end" and "From the beginning". Grass moss crawled into the heavy wooden seal along the edges of the door with silver and gold threads dusting the frame.

It was beautiful.

He said so to Temari. She only stared at him in a mixture of sadness, anger, and agreement. He only wished he could read the entirety of the fairy tongue inscribed into the door; he was sure he would appreciate it far more if he could. Without warning, the door shuttered open quickly without a squeak of any sort; it was almost as if the door were newly made instead of the centuries the door frame seemed to suggest. Shikamaru could not see what lay inside the room, for all he could see was but shadows. "They await you." Baki announced with finality.

"Fucking assholes." Kankurou swore.

Gaara took the lead stepping rather authoritatively and confidently into the dark room. Temari led him in next, her steps a bit clumsy and uncertain, but determined. "C'mon, Kankurou."

Kankurou followed in hesitantly, muttering something about sneaky underhanded fae. "I'm coming."

Shikamaru didn't notice much as he walked the first steps into the room, most likely because he couldn't see anything. As he walked along a barely lighted soft floor, there was nothing to grace his eyes but black shadows and the feeling that there was a lot there he couldn't see. "Temari—"

"Hush. You'll see."

His steps didn't even echo in the room, they seemed swallowed up in what he perceived as great vastness of the room.

He stopped as Temari signaled him firmly. He couldn't see Gaara, Kankurou, or Temari through the heavy darkness. While they were not in his vision, he could certainly feel Temari, from her grip on his own hand to the light breeze created from her fluttering wings. He could hear the grinding of Kankurou's teeth somewhere behind him and he could also hear the soft murmur of Gaara's even breath.

"This is him?" A high, disbelieving, feminine voice laughed from somewhere above him. "_This_ is the creature you all are so afraid of?" The voice continued, "Why I could smush him with the flick of a finger." Lights slowly started to glow from a point above in the fixated darkness and shapes started to take form. Five straight-backed figures and one soft bendy shape. As the lights increased Shikamaru began to see with clarity. Before them, raised above on a dais were six silver chairs that seemed to be made of liquid string winding in and out among themselves, pointing almost menacingly up above. In the two center chairs sat a broody dark human wrapped in heavy curling shadow wings and another similar creature, but female, perhaps a little older. On her left a small ivory skinned creature with curling horns sat glaring at them. On the side of the dark male an imposing creature with paper-thin and visible skin watched them in obvious disinterest. Multi-colored veins throbbed underneath the skin and watery grey eyes dominated his features. To the left of him, a little ways off, a petite girl lay sidewise across her chair, an even smile on her lips. She had dark brown hair, white eyes with a shimmering rainbow glow, sand colored skin dusted with freckles of golden brown, and the most peculiar of all were the pearlescent ornate designs etched on her skin. When Shikamaru squinted his eyes it almost looked like it was fairy writing carved on her skin. He couldn't say tattooed, for the markings seemed deeper and more natural than any inked skin.

_These_ were his killers?

"Hush, Kirai." The dark-winged male snapped.

The young girl straightened in her chair, a ghost of a smile still playing on her lips. Something – something _angry_ seemed to be written in her eyes at being silenced. Shikamaru just wasn't sure what exactly it was or to whom it was directed to. "Very well, Kano."

The dark-winged woman smiled viciously. "Step forward, human."

"Where is exactly is forward to you people?" He asked not wanting to get too close to them in all actuality. They seemed a bit too much for him to chew at the moment. "Like, how much?"

"Step forward." She repeated coldly.

Shrugging Shikamaru took three steps forward.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Not really, actually. Care to mention it to me?"

Behind him Temari inhaled sharply. "Watch your tongue." She warned. "They're not forgiving."

The horned one looked down coldly. "Why do you live with her?"

Shikamaru paused, uncertain of what answer they were looking for. The dark creatures didn't seem to care for his answer, wanting only to skin him alive. The translucent one didn't seem to care for his existence at all, as if his life or death meant nothing, in fact. The horned one seemed to have already judged him, but willing to listen. And the young girl watched him in a mixture of contempt and confusion. He wasn't sure what any of it meant. He decided to opt for a slightly evasive answer at first. "I want to."

"Why do you want to?" The horned one tried again.

"I love her." It really was the only answer he had.

The dark woman laughed. "Love? Ridiculous." None of the other four seemed to believe his statement either. "She's a fairy. You're a human. That is impossible."

Temari bristled. "Why don't you—" She didn't finish her statement. Gaara had her mouth shut tight with sand in an instant. The five fairies turned to look in interest.

"Who did that?" The translucent one slurred in a peculiar accent. "The sand?"

"I did." Gaara's voice was calm and superior. "Sometimes Temari sticks her foot in when it is not duly appropriate."

"Indeed." He mused. "A nice ability. Haven't seen that one."

"We are not here to appreciate gifts, Amun." The dark woman snapped.

Amun nodded. "I suppose not."

"Human!" The dark one thundered, Kano, if Shikamaru recalled his name correctly. Shikamaru stared up blankly. "I hear tales that you are an alchemist."

Temari mumbled something incoherent through her sand gag. Shikamaru presumed it was something along the lines of 'how the hell do you know that, you jerks?'. "And?"

"Are they true?"

"Yes."

"What experiments are you conducting with our people?"

Shikamaru blinked. Crap. All the times he'd messed with Kankurou were about to bite him in the ass. The tensing in Gaara's shoulders, the lack of movement engulfing Temari, and the low hiss from Kankurou were evidence to that. Well, there was no point in lying, now. If he did, then they would just ask the other three and his credibility went out the window. Was there some way he could dodge the question? Hm, probably not. "Nothing of any value. Sparring amusement."

The young girl jerked up. "You _have_ conducted experiments?" She seemed angry. This time he knew she was angry at him. Well, there weren't what was potentially his only ally.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. But like I said, it wasn't of any value. And it wasn't so much on fairies as they were experiments in general."

"Do you plot something against us, human?" Kano questioned deeply.

"Of course not." Shikamaru scoffed.

"Bah!" The woman exclaimed, "What good is his word? He is but human."

"I have not told you a lie."

The woman's eyes could chill stone. "Words from a human's lips have less merit than those from a frogtoad's fingertips. You are not bound by any oath as we are. Humans lie. That is all they do."

"If I may speak, medame?" Gaara asked calmly.

She scoffed. "Speak."

"He does not mean our kind any harm. He has saved myself and my brother from certain death. He is naught but a stupid human prone to stupid occupations such as amusing himself with Kankurou to pass his meaningless whims. Stupidity is in his nature, but disloyalty is not. He's bound himself to Temari, and will not cross her or her kind intentionally."

"You say _intentionally_." The girl cut in, her eyes taking Shikamaru in disapproval. "Do you believe he will ever harm us?"

"Any one of us could harm the other by accident."

"Such diplomatic answers; just give it to me straight." She half snarled.

"No. I don't believe he will ever harm us."

"Bah!" The dark woman scoffed, "His opinion is not worthy enough for us to judge upon. We must make decisions based on what we know."

"How do you know what you know is enough to make an accurate decision?" Shikamaru cut in without thinking of his statement.

"I say we kill him." The horned creature snapped.

"I concur." The woman sneered.

The dark man nodded. "It is for the best."

The translucent man raised his eyes to stare at him deeply. "Not that it counts for much considering the voting poll," He drawled, "but I disagree."

"Three against one." The woman snapped. "He dies."

Shikamaru swallowed. Temari began fighting against the sand. Kankurou started swearing.

"I believe Kirai has not voted." Gaara replied softly.

"Even if she votes in your favor," The woman sneered, "His death is still the clear victor." She tossed her hair behind her head. "Besides, her vote does not account for much."

The girl tensed visibly.

Gaara watched the woman skeptically. "It does if she chooses to invoke the old rites."

"No one has done so for decades. And no one will now." The dark woman enthused. "Baki! Take him to be—"

"Excuse me, Falynne!" The girl straightened. "_Nothing_ happens unless I decree so." The fury in her eyes seemed to parallel the rising tides of the light given off in the room. "He will _not_ die."

"You have no power to invoke the old rites!" Kano clamored.

"She does," Amun said slowly, "to introduce the fairy trials."

Kano's anger faded promptly. Instead a satisfied smile stretched across his lips. "Is that what you wish, _Kirai_?"

The girl pursed her lips. "Is that all I can do, Amun?"

"In your current situation, yes, it is all."

"You!" she snapped, her voice cold and annoyed, "the leader."

Gaara blinked. "You are speaking to me?"

"Yes, you." She huffed. "Do you want his death or do you wish to have him attempt the trials?"

Gaara shrugged visibly. "It is not much of a choice, princess. I suppose we desire to allow an attempt at the trials." He nodded. "A slim chance is better than none."

"You know what the trials entail of?"

"Naturally. They are famous."

She slouched back in her chair. "So be it. The human shall be tried tomorrow."

The woman pursed her lips in annoyance. The dark man smiled in anticipation. The horned one grinned malevolently. The translucent one examined his nails.

"You may leave." Kano thundered.

Shikamaru shuddered. He didn't much like the sound of these 'fairy trials'. Based on Temari's dour look, Kankurou's increased anger, and the look of worry on Gaara's face, he figured he could safely assume these trials were not a good omen or a gift. They might be worse than his very death.

Oh, joy.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, chapter one. I don't really like the chapter title, though. If anyone has better suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them.

Oh, and in case you'd like to know, Kirai means 'hatred'. (Thanks to **violaqu33n** for pointing out the correct defintion to me!) Kano means 'one's masculine power; capability'. I made up Falynne, so if it means something, I'm not aware of it. Amun means 'God of mystery'.


	3. The Sovereign Etiquette

**Ch.2: The Sovereign Etiquette **

* * *

"What are my statistical chances of coming out of these trials alive?" Shikamaru questioned once they were all back in the earthy room again.

Temari's nerves snapped as he said that. "They have no right!" She exploded angrily. "Those assholes didn't lift a finger to help us when the witch cursed us, and now they want to meddle in our affairs! They choose _now_!" Temari didn't even notice that she had lifted a few inches off the ground. "I hate them. I _hate_ them! I will kill them all with my bare hands! I will—"

"Temari," Gaara interrupted crossly, "yelling will not make it go away."

When she pushed the anger aside, Temari instead felt her worries surround her. If she stopped yelling, like Gaara wanted, all she had left to resort to was fear and sadness. "Gaara, they can't make him do the fairy trials." She pleaded. "He'll _die_."

Shikamaru sat down abruptly on the floor with a heavy sigh. "Well, that answers my question."

"You never know." Gaara replied uncertainly, casting Shikamaru a sideways look, "Stranger things have happened."

Temari did not feel optimistic. Not at all. Not even a little bit. All she felt was angry and scared. Angry that those jerks were trying to take away her happy person, her love; and scared because there was nothing she could do. For all her threats, she was doomed. Kano and Falynne alone would strike her dead before Temari could retaliate. Temari flitted dejectedly to Shikamaru, sliding down to sit beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I hate fairies."

"You hate everybody." Shikamaru mumbled.

He sounded detached and separated, as if the world itself had nothing to do with him. As if none of it quite made any sense to him yet. Temari entwined her fingers within his own. "I love you."

Shikamaru reciprocated the feeling almost halfheartedly.

Temari felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry." She dropped her eyes to the ground. "I only make you unhappy don't I?"

"That's not true." Shikamaru protested immediately, turning to look at her in shock. "You could never do that. I love you, Temari, I do." He looked wistfully at the walls, "I just…I'm confused, a bit."

Kankurou took the opportunity to sit right before them. "Well, there's no room for that. If they're going to put you through this nonsense, you're going to have to know everything that just happened." He paused. "Basics first."

Shikamaru nodded.

"The council of fae is usually composed of the King, Queen, and their advisors. Currently, there are special circumstances. The King and Queen have gone to dust, so to speak, leaving only their daughter. Fae rules prohibit women to rule the, well, _country_ I suppose you could call it, on their own. Unfortunately, the daughter refuses to marry and as such she cannot take possession of the throne."

Temari couldn't help but snort contemptuously. She hated that rule. Such a sexist ideal.

Kankurou continued, "Therefore, the old King and Queen's advisors took control and put in a temporary, or what they say is temporary, control of the kingdom. Those would be the dark winged ones: Kano and Falynne. Dangerous fuckers. They dismissed every other advisor and put in place their own favorites: Amun and Jiyitl. Amun is the one with the almost clear skin. Jiyitl is the one with the curving horns."

"What about the girl?" Shikamaru frowned.

"I'm getting to that." Kankurou said in exasperation. "She is the unmarried princess." Kankurou waved his hand about, "Not that it matters much. Her word is continually undermined by Kano and Falynne because they _can_ undermine it. She's really just there for show and she knows it. I'm actually surprised that Kirai attempted to make her voice count at this hearing. Kano must really be aggravating her lately."

"Is that why she has fairy writing tattooed on her skin? Because she's royalty?"

Gaara nodded absently. "Partially." He frowned. "Temari. Come."

Temari blinked. "Come where?"

"Just come." Gaara commanded walking out of the room.

"Are we allowed to leave?" Shikamaru questioned.

Kankurou shrugged. "_We_ are. _You_ aren't."

Temari struggled up. "Hey! Gaara! Come back!" She stopped at the door. "Keep explaining, will you, Kankurou? The whole fairy trial business."

Kankurou nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Just go."

Temari hurried after her younger brother. "What is the big deal?" She hissed, having caught up to him. "He's going to die and you have me away from—"

"Stop being so cynical, Temari." Gaara demanded. "He _won't_ die."

"Stop being so optimistic, it's the inevitable." Temari snapped. "_Fairies_ don't even pass the fairy trials."

"If you were to be exact," A familiar voice tinkled calmly, "it would be best to say that _no_ fairy has ever passed the fairy trials."

Temari wanted to rip her pretty little head of her pretty little shoulders. She lunged forward. Gaara stopped her again.

"Stop doing that, Temari." Gaara said in slight aggravation. "You never get any headway when you act on anger."

Kirai shrugged lightly. "I probably deserve it." She extended her right hand. "I have a new one." Kirai traced her nail across a particular pearlescent fairy marking around her wrist. "Repentance." She dropped her hand, "Though I don't see why it chose that. I _did_ try. Didn't help, but I tried. Probably, repentance for never marrying, I suppose."

Temari scowled, infuriated by her casual tone and her seeming apathy. How dare she act like it was such a simple matter? They were going to kill Shikamaru! Who gave a damn if her fairy core _thought_ she was sorry? She fucking wasn't _acting_ sorry. Temari noted that the sand around her ankles trickled away, releasing her.

"I wanted to discuss matters with you, Kirai." Gaara said to her, his tone clipped and professional.

She shrugged, "I don't see why. I can't do anything."

"You could marry." Temari snapped.

"I will not bind myself for your sake." Kirai seethed, her eyes flashing dangerously as she said so.

"That is not," Gaara stressed, "the direction I wished our conversation to take." He paused. "Please, will you hear us?"

Kirai hesitated. "I can't _do_ anything."

"All I ask is for you to listen." Gaara said.

The fairy sighed. "Very well." She beckoned them forward with a finger. "Follow me."

Temari followed after her young brother somewhat hesitantly, casting the princess of the fae suspicious glances as she led them on somewhere. There had been a time that Temari found the girl's unwillingness to tie her fate with another's as a radical inspirational change. There'd been a time that Temari begrudgingly respected the lightly marked creature. But that time was long past now. That time only existed when the young princess had been fresh and naïve (as Temari had been as well); when Kirai had very few fairy runes imprinted on her skin and possessed an innocent glow to her eyes; Back when Kirai still held promise for a change to the fairy kingdom. All she represented now was a stubborn brash child who was letting two cruel dictators usurp control. She was giving over her _right_. Temari could not and would not forgive her for that.

Never.

She led them purposefully and happily through winding earthen corridors, her footsteps sounding authoritatively throughout the empty hallways. Back in the olden times, Temari had heard tell that the fairy castle was filled to the brim with happy chattering fae.

Now it was empty, cold, and drafty. It was not a happy place.

Kirai turned swiftly walking right into what appeared to be a wall at first sight, the muddy bricks bending towards her, into her almost, as she did so. Gaara followed immediately after her, also ensconced in the suction-like pull of the wall. Temari hesitated before the brick wall. Fairy or not, walking into a wall wasn't a very appealing concept. Especially one that seemed to suck a person by surrounding them with its essence. Temari cursed quietly and stepped into the wall, eyes squeezed tight. She didn't even realize she'd gone through the wall until she tripped over a blunt object and fell face first into the floor, swallowing a clod of mud and leaves as she did so. Temari sat up quickly, spluttering the organic material out of her mouth. "Eugh." She wiped at her mouth, trying to erase the taste of the earth. Temari wasn't a big fan of the flavor of _dirt_.

Kirai snickered slightly. "Don't have much balance, do you?"

Temari glared at her. "Do you really want to piss me off right now?" She stood up, smacking her lips in an attempt to continue removing the aftertaste.

Kirai shrugged. "I suppose not. Doesn't stop it from being funny."

"Why the hell did we have to walk through a wall anyway?" Temari looked around the room. It was very small and certainly more primitive than the ornate halls of the castle. It seemed composed purely of compact dirt, vines, and leaves. A chair seemed to grow out of the ground itself, like the branches of a tapering tree. Aside from the chair, the other furniture appeared made. A famous fae Cyprus desk, a decently carved cabinet set, and a pile of books dropped carelessly around the whole room.

"I don't want Kano or Falynne finding this room." Kirai settled in her chair, tucking her knees underneath her, "I'm sure they know I have the room, but I don't like them knowing where it is. I don't want them poking their nose in here. So I have the room magicked to move throughout the castle constantly."

Gaara picked up a few tomes from the floor and flipped through them idly. "So how do _you_ always find the room?"

Kirai's hand lifted to her chest. Carelessly, she pulled a silver chain from beneath her shirt revealing an emerald teardrop jewel dangling freely from it. "Family help." It was a decidedly beautiful jewel, Temari thought. Kirai hid it underneath her blouse once more. "It gives me a light tug in the right direction."

Gaara snapped the book shut. "You're using your family's pride as a map?"

If Temari didn't know any better she would've said Gaara sounded angry. But that of course, made no sense at all. Why would he care about the fae royalty's trinkets? How would he know anyway? _She_ didn't know anything about them.

"I don't see where it's your place to judge, Gaara." Kirai said evenly, her incandescent eyes hooded.

"Don't you _dare_ address my brother by his first name." Temari growled.

Kirai flicked her attention to her, "I don't see why I should be disbarred. Your brother and I have spoken before."

"About what!?" Temari was angry. Anger on top of anger wasn't a rather good mix.

Gaara shifted. "Do you recall that I told you I asked around about curses and the way to break them?"

Temari watched her brother warily. He seemed almost apologetic. "Yes."

"I went straight to the source."

"You told _her_?"

"Yes."

A million things suddenly made sense. Temari turned on the princess. "I will kill you!" She spat and flew at the delicate girl. This time Gaara didn't stop her, but Kirai dodged her hits expertly.

"I've been attacked various times before, fairy. If you want to hit me, you'll have to do better than—" Kirai's words died quickly in her mouth as Temari made contact with her skin. One hard heavy hit made it's way straight into the horrible girl's jaw. Temari made to hit her again, but found that she was bound by Gaara's sand once more.

"I let you hit her once, Temari. Would you please stop letting your anger rule you now?" Gaara questioned softly, almost sadly.

Temari watched in satisfaction as Kirai rubbed her jaw. "That hurt." She muttered under her breath. Temari felt Kirai's eyes on her. She stared back angrily. Kirai closed her eyes and sighed in apology. "I'm _sorry_. I realize it was a mistake now. I thought nothing of it."

"It's your fault they brought him here!" Temari hissed.

"I didn't think they'd care!" Kirai yelled. "I didn't realize…I didn't…I'm _sorry_." Kirai squeezed her eyes shut. Apparently not able to deal with her guilt, the fairy began pacing throughout the room. "I'm not sorry that…that he's dying. I'm not. I'm sorry that I'm responsible for an unjust hearing. For…for your misery."

"You're _not_ sorry he's dying?!" Temari curled her fingers into a fist. What was with this fairy? Temari _knew_ she didn't like that stupid princess. She was a cold heartless bitch that deserved to roast. All the crap she was faced with was warranted.

"He's human!" The fairy princess defended. "Why would I be sorry he's dying? What do I care?" Kirai's eyes narrowed. "What you're doing is unnatural anyway. He's not one of us."

"He still shouldn't die for your stupid vendetta!"

"It's not my vendetta!" Kirai screamed. She took a deep breath. "It's not my vendetta." She repeated softly, "I don't think he should die, but I don't care if he does. I am sorry for what's happening to _you_. But I couldn't give a damn about him. He's not one of my people."

"When have you done anything for your people, anyway?" Temari snapped. "What have you _ever_ done?"

"It's not like I haven't tried."

"You haven't done a thing."

"I'm not allowed!"

"Then marry someone!" Temari collapsed to the floor, the tears rising again. Why were things always out of her control? Why couldn't she ever solve her own problems? Why was it always messing with her life? What did she ever do to piss off fate so badly? Temari dug her fingers into the floor, the earth sticking underneath her nails. Drops fell to the floor staining the dirt a darker shade. Why did that idiot _always_ have to make her cry? "You just had to fucking tell those bastards that he was human. That he was…That he was…" Temari choked on a sob.

Temari stiffened as she felt the regal princess kneel in front of her. "I truly am sorry." Her tattooed hands squeezed her own softly. "I am."

Temari didn't say anything.

"Kirai," Gaara interrupted, "I did come here with a purpose."

Temari didn't want to look at either of them. She didn't want to see how they looked at seeing her crying on the floor. She didn't want to see the resigned fate in both their eyes. She just didn't want to see what she already knew.

"What would that be?" Kirai's voice sounded oddly constrained.

"Why hasn't anyone ever completed the fairy trials?"

Kirai hesitated. "They're hard trials. Almost impossible. _Probably_ impossible. The biggest mess is…well, its…he'd have to last five minutes assaulted by Kano." Kirai paused, "The rest, it requires lots of luck and magic, or lots and _lots_ of intellect."

"He'd have to fight with Kano?" Gaara asked tersely.

"At least five minutes." Temari could hear Kirai's distaste. "Kano might stretch the limit. He'd be perfectly within his rights."

Temari swallowed a sob. "He's going to die."

"Most likely." Kirai muttered at the same time Gaara snapped at her to quit saying those things. "It's no use trying to perk her up, Gaara. He will die. It's the inevitable." Temari looked up at the two fae. Kirai tapped her fingers against her desk. "_You_ couldn't last five minutes with Kano."

Gaara's eye twitched. "Why would that be?"

If this weren't such a horrible circumstance, Temari would have laughed at her brother's abundance in pride of his own skills.

"It's not ordinary fighting." Kirai explained. "It's not face to face. You don't see him. The one in the trial is stripped of their five senses during that portion of the trial." She trailed her fingers to the end of the desk, "It's more of an execution than an actual battle." Kirai looked apologetically at Gaara. "Used to serve as morbid amusement for the fairies of the ancient times. That's why it's not heavily implemented anymore. It's cruel and unusual."

"How exactly are the senses removed?"

"Double-bind fae chant. In other words, group magic."

Gaara closed his eyes and muttered quickly and quietly under his breath. Upon seeing this, Temari struggled up. Did he have an idea? Did he have a plan? Could it…? Temari squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten. It did her no good to think so positively. Nothing good could come of it. Think bad, she thought. She just had to continue thinking bad; if she did that, she wouldn't be crushed down.

"Which," Gaara began slowly, "is stronger: fae group magic or a witch spell?"

"Witch spell, hands down." Kirai replied automatically. She blinked. "You know a witch who would do that for you?"

Gaara shook his head. "Not for free."

Temari straightened. "You don't mean Chiyo, do you?"

Gaara nodded. "It might be the only way to get through. You know Shikamaru is smart enough to quite possibly pull through the nonsense trials. He'll find a way. If we can get past the biggest hindrance, then he might make it out alive."

"Chiyo hates us."

"But she'll do us a favor if we do something for her."

"I don't have anything for her. Besides, after the useless crap Shikamaru gave her last time, I highly doubt she'll accept any trade I have to offer."

Gaara nodded. "True."

"Then what the hell did you bring it up for?!" Temari screamed hysterically. The love of her life was going to die and her youngest brother was wasting her time with trifle stuff.

Gaara motioned to Kirai. "That's why I wanted to talk to her." He looked evenly at Kirai, "Would you ask on our behalf?"

Kirai gaped at him. "I – you can't be serious! I don't have anything to – this isn't my…" The princess massaged her temples. "I don't even _know_ the human. Why would I do anything for him?"

"You could do it for my sister."

"She hit me. I don't see why I should do it for her either."

"Me, then. You could do it for me."

Kirai wavered. "This isn't fair, Gaara. I don't owe you anything."

"I know you don't. That's why I'm asking for a favor. Please. This is the first time my sister has been happy. I don't want that taken away from her." Temari could've sworn that Gaara's voice cracked at the end.

She felt unbelievably small as Gaara and Kirai stared at each other: their eyes boring into one another's. Temari thought about mentioning that she was still in the room, but she didn't see what good that would do. Right now, it seemed like the world consisted just of Kirai and Gaara alone.

"It isn't my place." The princess finally responded.

"What _is_ your place?" Gaara asked softly, "What does Kano _let_ you do?"

Kirai stiffened. "This has nothing – This isn't…" She sighed. "Fine. I will accompany you to see this witch. But that is _all_ I commit to doing."

Gaara nodded. Her youngest brother grasped Temari's arm and he pulled her toward the wall. "Find us when you're ready." They walked through the wall again, Temari shuddered as the earthy wall squished around her.

The scenes and words of that which had just occurred repeated continuously in Temari's mind as they headed back to the 'cell'. It was just a whirlwind: a myriad of thoughts and fears that she couldn't organize. Hatred, terror, grief, appall, and gratitude all intermingled until the feelings didn't make sense anymore – until her world itself didn't make any sense anymore.

All she could understand was that she didn't want to deal with this.

With any of it.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the wait; I had to prepare for a big debate competition this weekend. It was exhausting. On the plus side, my partner and I won first place. It was a total shocker; we weren't expecting to win. It was the first time we'd really done that type of debate and we weren't even all that ready. So, in my perspective, putting of updating was worth it, but maybe not in your perseptive. But that's okay, I'm on a happy high. I wanted to test a theory that I saw another author do themselves. If you have read this author's note, leave a review with the phrase 'blooberry muffin'. Hope the chapter met expectations and was at least worth the long wait. You know, I wonder if a candidate has ever thought to endorse their candidacy through fanfiction? I mean, it would be a rather interesting way to promote your campaign; get an author on FF to post an AN that showed a candidate in a positive light. Sorry, if that's boring, I'm in a politic-y mood right now.


	4. 4Letter Word That Makes Things Screwy

**Ch.3: **It's a Four-Letter Word that Makes Things Screwy

--

Temari was going to be sick. She was honestly going to hurl; maybe she would faint again. No…No, she wouldn't faint at this interval. Not really. But she was still incredibly queasy, nervous, and scared. Temari had feared and hated Chiyo for the better part of her life, and here she was standing in the witch's abode with the person she hated most after the witch. Oh, she was going to be sick.

Kirai, on the other hand, was looking around the room in complete amazement and wonder. She seemed like a child in the midst of a wonderful dream. It was annoying at best.

She felt her heart hammering and fingers jittering. Temari wanted to ask someone for calming words, but there was certainly no way she was asking Kirai, and at current Kirai was the only one at her disposal. Temari bit her lower lip and tried in vain to reach a peaceful place.

One of Kirai's other demands had been that Gaara was not to be allowed to enter the area. Temari didn't understand that particular demand, but it meant that only she and the princess would enter the devil's home.

Temari swallowed deeply and tried to calm herself once more.

It _really_ wasn't working.

The room itself wasn't very reassuring in itself. Sealed bottles covered with yellowing paper dotted with chicken scrawl lay strewn about the room everywhere, heavy tomes – both in good and bad shape – lay piled upon the surface of viable furniture, peculiar witch herbs hung from the ceiling and dried by the windows, specks of dust floating in the air shined invariably as the sun hit them through the windowpane, the heavy oak floors creaked with every heavy step she took, and an infuriating base smell of garlic and peroxide tainted the air. It was disgusting.

Kirai ran her fingers across something green, bumpy, and clearly dead that was hanging from the ceiling. Temari didn't even want to contemplate what it had been. "Don't touch that!" She snapped.

Kirai drew her hand back. "Why not?"

"Just don't." Temari hissed. "This isn't a game."

"I hadn't assumed it was by any means." She let her hand fall to her side. "I was merely curious."

"Curiosity is the first step to the destruction of the soul." Chiyo's voice cut through the air icily, chilling Temari to the very bone with her mere presence. Temari took a step back without thinking.

The elder witch looked contemptuously at them, her eyes steely and annoyed. "_You_; I did not expect for you to ever seek me out."

"I didn't exactly want to." Temari bit her lip; she never _had_ known when to be quiet.

Before any further words could be traded, Kirai interrupted. "You would be Chiyo, I presume?"

"Yes." She croaked, "And who might you be?"

Kirai bowed gracefully, "Kirai of the royal court: fae princess."

Chiyo grinned. "Ah, the 'unwanted one'. The _hated_ one."

Kirai's lips turned down into a scowl. "Yes."

"I hear tale of you. None good."

"I would imagine." Kirai replied testily.

The room suddenly darkened and decreased in temperature. Chiyo's eyes turned more stony than before, "So why do you two fairies dare to intrude upon my place of relaxation and privacy?"

Temari shivered. "I want…I need a favor."

"For you?" Chiyo sneered. "Don't make me laugh." The witch crooked her finger straight at her forehead, "If your little human hadn't played me and played me well, I would curse you right now. As is, I am bound not to damage you in any form."

"He didn't _play_ you." Temari snapped. "He gave you what was asked."

"Which is quite possibly what made it so ingenious." Chiyo admitted despite herself. "That one has brains for sure. Although, quite disgracefully, he seems to be quite idiotic in terms of companionship. You are no prize."

Temari's fear didn't quite disappear, but it faded to the background, just like her fear had always faded before. Temari always feared her, but Chiyo was so cruel and despicable that her fear was continually being displaced with instant hatred and thirst for fight. Now was no different.

"Now is not the time to fight." Kirai commented almost idly.

Temari swallowed her wrath, deciding she would take out her anger on the princess instead at a later date. When did it happen that she became the girl who couldn't control her emotions? She used to be so good at that. Apparently, neglecting emotions for years had damaged her so severely that now that she was letting them be expressed they were magnified to annoying levels. "I'll make a trade." Temari tried to barter.

"I will not accept a trade from you!" Chiyo laughed cruelly. "I am no fool."

"Would you," Kirai cut in, "accept one from me?"

The witch directed her attention to the idle princess. "So calm. So cool. So unafraid." She chattered meaninglessly. "And why would you help such a pathetic twit as her? Does her cause mean something to you?"

"I've wronged her." Kirai responded without hesitation. "I've wronged a lot of people."

"You haven't made deals for anyone else. What is the real reason?"

To Temari's surprise, Kirai dropped her gaze to the floor and a pale blush spread across her cheeks. "I believe my reason is my own. You have no need of it. Unless, that is what you would like to trade?"

The witch stared curiously at the princess. "Such interesting affairs." Chiyo walked towards them, a few candles flaring to life as she did so. Temari instantly felt a little better. The overwhelming darkness was a bit…well, overwhelming. It was always easy to do traitorous things in the dark – so much so for witches. "Fairy," Chiyo glanced at Temari; the term 'fairy' was usual laced with disgust and annoyance, "what is it that you want from me?"

Temari forced herself to look thee witch in the eyes. "I need….I need a spell from you. But not on me, on Shikamaru."

"The human." It was more a statement than a question. "Why?"

"He's…They…The fae council want to kill him, so they've decided to put him through the fairy trials—"

"The trials?" Chiyo's eyebrows lifted up in astonishment. "I thought those were outdated. Deemed prehistoric cruelty."

"No." Kirai responded. "Just not practiced for centuries."

"You are putting a _human_ through the trials?" Chiyo clucked her tongue. "He won't survive a minute."

"You underestimate him." Temari muttered.

"Do I?" Chiyo mused aloud. "He _is_ quite intelligent, but I doubt he will – _ahh_, I see what you ask of me now. You wish to remove the sense-dulling the fairies place during the execution part."

"Yes."

The witch looked disinterestedly at her. "I don't see why I should. The human played me like a puppet." She smiled cruelly, "In fact, it would be the perfect vengeance. You become miserable and he dies. Very fitting. Perhaps I shall go watch it myself."

Temari squeezed her eyes shut. "_Please_. I'll give you anything."

"You have nothing of value." Chiyo snapped vilely. "Nothing I would want."

Temari felt a solitary tear squeeze out from her eyes. "There must be _something_…"

"Perhaps…"

Her eyes fluttered opened immediately. "Anything, ask for anything!"

The witch turned her eyes to Kirai. "There is one thing I would like to have in my possession."

Kirai didn't falter under Chiyo's scrutiny. "What would that be?"

"The stone."

"No." Kirai responded immediately. "You cannot have that. Ask for something else."

Chiyo smirked. "Shame. That is all I want."

"You take me for a fool? The stone is worth much more than your stupid paltry spell." Kirai's eyes narrowed.

Chiyo clucked her tongue. "You are desperate."

"_She_ is desperate. I couldn't care less." It was amazing how detached Kirai really was from the whole affair. How seemingly cold and callous.

"Then her love will die."

Temari felt panic overtake her. "Give it to her." She didn't know what the stone was, or what power it held, but Shikamaru could not fucking die. No!

"No." Kirai snapped. "You don't understand what she's asking me."

"I don't care! Give it to her!"

"_No_!"

"This is your fault to begin with!"

"And I would be committing a more severe error if I gave it to her!" Kirai snapped back. "This stone is the only thing that's keeping Kano from completely overtaking the fae. It's the only thing that impedes him from certain acts. If I lose it and he knows I have it no more, he will take advantage of my loss and declare himself king of the fae."

"How much different would that be from now!" Temari screamed.

Kirai's voice softened and could have cut through stone. "You have no idea how much worse it could get."

Temari was faltering between insanity and bubbling terror. "Please. You can't do this to me. You can't make me watch him die! I love him! You can't…Please, don't…Please!"

"I _can't_, Temari!"

"So you will bring me to the executioner and supply him with the axe!" Temari cried.

"I cannot fix one mistake with another!"

"Why not? That's all you've done your entire fucking life. One mistake after another!"

"I can't do this for you." Kirai repeated.

"Apparently, you can't do anything. For anyone." Temari lowered her eyes in an effort to bury her pain. "Maybe your name was rightfully chosen."

"He's only human." Kirai tried to assure her through her own guilt and confusion, "You can find a fairy."

"If you can say that to me then you don't understand love."

There was a lengthy pause and then, "Witch," Kirai lifted her hand to her neck and pulled out the same red stone that she'd shown her and Gaara previously, hesitating only a second she yanked firmly at the string, the end hanging limply in the air, the ruby hidden in her hand. She held out the hand clutching the gem, "If your spell is some attempt at hatchery—"

"Why, I would not bargain unfairly with the princess herself." Chiyo remarked, her eyes reveling in the sight of the stone. Her wrinkled hands reached out for it.

Kirai dropped it into her hands. "If the human does not survive, I will come back for that."

Chiyo rubbed her fingers across the smooth surface of the stone, "I can only be held accountable for the execution stance."

"Yes." Kirai nodded. "If he fails that—"

"He will not."

"If he dies before that," Chiyo winced at the thought, "I will come back for the stone also." Kirai continued, "Since you are getting far more than I am receiving, I also ask for a fake stone. Not possessing any magic, but enough to fool a madman."

The witch nodded coolly. "As her ladyship desires."

Kirai nodded.

xXxXx

_Trial 1_

Temari was hiding behind her youngest brother, pressing her face to his back trying very hard to block out the noise around her. The screams, cheers, jeers, and pity exclamations weren't doing anything for her stomach. She curled her fingers into her brother's shoulders.

"Temari," Gaara muttered through gritted teeth, "I understand your worry and apprehension, but really, this is sort of painful."

She let go, or she was going to, but at that moment a loud gasp went through the crowd and Temari felt her stomach drop to the ground. Instead she dug her fingers deeper into him.

Gaara didn't snap at her again, instead the princess herself did.

"For someone who assured me he could make it through, you don't seem to have much faith in him." Kirai's voice was soft, melodic, and edged.

"Leave her alone, Kirai." Gaara muttered.

Peeking out slightly, she saw the thin fairy raise her hands in surrender. "Whatever."

"How is he doing?" Temari asked somewhat hesitantly.

"He's—"

"I'm not asking you, Gaara." Temari interrupted immediately. "You'll only lie to me. Same goes for you, Kankurou."

"Oh, me?" Kirai's blissful shock seemed genuine. "He's sucking."

Temari swallowed her fears and peeked over Gaara's shoulder at the scene below. It took all her strength not to hide behind him again. "He's not going to die. He's not going to die. He's not going to die." Temari muttered under her breath repeatedly. "He's not going to die."

"Nothing like capricious self-denial." Kirai commented idly.

"Shut up, princess." Temari snarled.

"He doesn't seem to be doing any good; how can he make it out alive?" Kirai prodded.

"You don't know him." Temari defended.

"Then why are you afraid he'll die?"

Temari stared back down at the scene before her. It was ridiculous. The way they set up these fairy trials. They held them in a raised theatre so that fae could sit down on stands and watch as the unlucky individual below them suffered. It was morbid, disgusting, and duly unfair to the individual being tried. Shikamaru was currently hidden from view; Temari imagined he was busy trying to piece together some semblance of a plan. It was a stupid trial. How the hell was he supposed to get the fake emerald positioned 100 feet off the floor while a pack of somewhat rabid merkeets were prowling right underneath the wall it was hanging from in under ten minutes? The only fairies that could do that would have to have wings and wings were a rare thing among fae.

Temari tensed. No, she couldn't think that way. He was smart. Really smart. He would come up with something.

She ignored the fact that the merkeets had already cut him up pretty badly.

She ignored the fact that he was given nothing to work with.

She ignored the fact that a merkeet had disappeared in the same direction he was hiding.

She ignored a lot of facts.

"He will not die." Temari said calmly. "He will not die and he will not fail."

Kirai yawned. "I bet you my collection of books that he'll fail."

Temari would have turned and strangled her at that point the horn signaling the end hadn't sounded. Temari's knees buckled and she would've crumpled to the floor if Gaara hadn't noticed her sudden frailty and grabbed her by the upper arm pulling her up. "This isn't happening." She muttered weakly. "This isn't happening." Shikamaru's figure was made visible as he pushed through the shrubbery.

Kankurou suddenly burst out laughing. "Mother fucker."

Temari started, something had happened. "What-what-what happened?"

Kirai leant casually against the rail watching the scene below in mild interest. "Kano is not gonna like this."

Temari flew to the bars and leaned so far over she would have fallen if she wasn't possessing wings. "What is going on?!"

"Look at his hands." Kankurou continued laughing. "He's got it."

Temari felt her jaw drop. True enough, in Shikamaru's hands was a simple shimmering emerald stone. "What the hell?" She looked up to the position in the cliff in utter confusion. She frowned – there was something she was missing. "It's still up there!" In fact the emerald was still shimmering happily from the stone wall, but there was no denying that Shikamaru held an emerald stone in his hands as well.

Kirai tapped her fingers across the guardrail. "The emerald hanging from the walls? It's a ploy. A decoy." She smiled. "I can't believe your human figured it out. And from all the way on the floor too."

Temari let out a sigh of relief. "Goody. Can I see him, then?"

"No." Kirai said impatiently. "We went through this remember? No contact with anyone until the trials are over."

Temari gnawed on her lower lip. "Okay, okay."

"Kirai!" A sharp voice snapped, appearing rather suddenly behind them.

The fair-skinned princess stiffened in indignation. Temari could see her eyes blaze in anger. She turned, "Yeah, Falynne?"

The dark fairy stared coldly at all of them. "You and Amun run the next trial."

A self-indulgent smirk passed along Kirai's lips. "That's right. I do, don't I? Well, isn't that a shame…"

"What?" Falynne snapped.

"Well, you see," Kirai slid her hand into the fold of her dress, "I was so certain the pitiful human would die, that I bet my library stock he wouldn't pass the current trial." Fishing out a set of silver keys she dangled them in the air before tossing them to Temari. "So, alas, they have use of my books."

Falynne looked furious. "_You_--!"

"Don't get angry at _me_," Kirai scoffed, "he was supposed to die. We all thought so." Kirai offered Falynne a half-assed attempted at a sweet smile before turning to face them again, "Alright, dolts, here's how it works. Right now, the human is being given his question. It's simple it's boring – quite possibly the least fun of all the trials to watch. He gets a riddle. His connections – those being you all – can give him ONE thing," her eyes flitted to the key surreptitiously, "to help solve the riddle. You can't see him, but you can give him one resource. He has thirty minutes to solve the riddle or he's blown up – literally. If he finishes with a few minutes to spare, he can use what he gets from the riddle to get a weapon for the final trial." Kirai yawned. "That's it." The princess wiggled her fingers, "So, what do you want to give him?"

"The stock of books that you just lost in a bet with us." Temari replied immediately.

"Sure? You don't want—"

"The _books_, princess." Temari snapped. She didn't have to fake the anger too much; something about the girl's personality kept rubbing her the wrong way. Temari was almost positive Kirai was doing it on purpose too. For a princess who didn't care if Shikamaru lived or died, she was helping her quite a lot.

Kirai shrugged. "Alright. Books it is. Key, please."

Temari tossed her the key and watched Falynne and Kirai depart, the older woman arguing with the young fairy princess as they did.

Temari sagged to the floor.

"How are you feeling?" Kankurou asked.

"Horrible." Temari muttered. "I think this is the most torturous experience I've ever had to face." Temari paused. "At least the next one is a riddle. If there's anything Shikamaru can do it's that intellectual crap."

_**Trial 2**_

_I am me and you and me are I.  
Everyone knows a touchdown makes six,  
So tell me truthfully, what are lies? _**(1)**_  
_

Temari stared blankly at the words written upon the standing board. _You and me are I…?_ What did that nonsense mean? Besides her, she felt Kankurou stiffen and Gaara sigh. Temari looked at her two brothers absently and then looked back at the arena. Shikamaru was resting on his knees his fingers pulled together in his thinking position. She could see from her current position that the odd device strapped on his chest was slowly winding down in time.

Thirty minutes.

_What are lies?_

Kankurou threw his hands up in the air and slid to the floor so he could lie down. "Tell me when the prick solves it."

"You think he can solve it?" Gaara asked calmly.

"Of course he can." Kankurou scoffed. "Have you seen the nonsense that human reads? This will be cake for him."

Temari slid to the floor cross legged and peered through the bars at Shikamaru. "It's only a riddle."

Shikamaru cracked his eyes open ten minutes in and slowly stood up. Purposefully, he made his way to the small stack of books that had been placed there for him. His eyes scanned the tomes quickly, not even touching the bound books; he finally stooped low and pulled out a thin mahogany book at the very bottom. Temari blinked and pressed her face against the bars trying to read the title.

"Grammar." Gaara said to her. "That's the title."

"_Grammar_?" Temari blinked. Temari tapped her fingers along the rail trying to connect grammar with the riddle at hand.

She couldn't.

Shikamaru seemed to be mouthing words and counting things on his fingers. Carefully, he moved to the small keypad on his chest and pushed a few buttons. Temari squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. A wave of shocked gasps spread through the watching crowd. Temari waited a minute longer before opening her eyes. There was no explosion, so she could logically conclude he was still alive. When she was brave enough to peak correctly, she did indeed see that he was very much intact and the bomb was no longer strapped to his person. Shikamaru was now standing over an open case containing a few iron weapons. He would occasionally pick one up and examine it, as if weighing its worth.

"What did he type in?" Temari breathed.

"Look at the screen." Gaara muttered.

Temari did. Glowing under the riddle was the word 'two'. Temari blinked. "What the hell does that mean?"

Kankurou was standing up again. "Does it matter?" He shrugged. "He did it. He won. Who the hell cares if the answer is two?"

"Lies are _two_?" Temari asked in wonder. "Where did he get that nonsense from?"

_**Trial 3**_

"Kankurou, can you knock me out?"

"I really don't think that would be wise." Gaara interjected. "If you're that afraid, Temari, just close your eyes. We'll tell you when it's over."

Temari hesitated, but instead shifted back to over to the rail and watched the scene below. She gripped the cool metal bar and tried to steady her heart. So far it was dark below, but soon it would start. Her wings flapped nervously and she wanted to throw up.

"Five minutes." Kirai chimed making her presence in their section of the balcony known. Temari turned slightly. "Kano has no faith in the human so he set the limit at five minutes." Kirai's lips stretched taut, "So, if the witch keeps her promise, then assuming your assumptions are correct, he might just make it." Kirai leant against the bar to the left of her, between her and Gaara. "Just so you know, Temari, while your whole relationship with the creepy human bothers me, I'm rooting for him." Her voice was a little strained.

Temari couldn't muster a word.

"The going rate is 1,051 to 1. Everyone thinks he's toast." Kirai continued. "The way I see it is simple. He's got his senses, he's got some brains, he's acquainted with some pretty powerful fairies, he's an alchemist, and he's already tricked a witch. Five minutes against Kano shouldn't be too hard. So, if I place a bet on him winning, at least I'll get something out of this."

"You bet on Shikamaru winning?" Kankurou's voice was skeptical.

"My entire fortune." Kirai announced. "The bet-holder thought I was barmy."

Temari's voice cracked. "Your _entire_ fortune?"

"Yes'm."

Temari gripped the bar a little bit tighter. Did she have that much faith in Shikamaru? How could the princess be willing to place her entire fortune on him, when Temari was almost wishing she could be passed out for this final trial?

"It's because you have more to lose." Kirai whispered.

Temari stared at her.

"It's harder for you, because you stand to lose everything." Kirai's tattooed hand squeezed hers.

Temari swallowed. "He…He can do it."

Kirai smiled.

Temari had already forgotten why she hated her so much.

--

**A/N:** I'm on a happy high again. My SAT scores came out today and they were_ just where I needed them_! Not to sound like a stuck-up bitch, but I did fan-fucking-tastic and I'm damn proud. That practicing finally paid off. The last obstacle is out of the way. (Well...last, if you don't count the whole, I-need-to-find-money issue) Anywho, hope this chapter is oodles of fun for you!

And thank you so very much for all of those who reviewed. I didn't reply to any (most?) this time, because I was scared I'd probably tell something about the plot line, since all of you have nice guesses, and when I start typing it's rather difficult to get me to stop. :D Blooberry muffins for all you cool people! (Bloo, because really, between a BLUEberry muffin and BLOOberry muffin, the latter just sounds so much cooler.) ;)

--

**(1)**Also, the riddle. I'm not too sure I get it myself, but I got it from the internet. The whole point is it's supposed to be about constanants. Here's the answer I got off the internet:

I is the Roman numeral for 1.  
Then the paragraph could be referring to  
the numbers of consonants:

Me has 1  
You and Me has 1  
Touchdown has 6  
Therefore Lies would be 2


	5. In Terms of Blood and Deadly Strife

**Ch.4: In Terms of Blood and Deadly Strife**

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Shikamaru sat perched on the stone bench cradling his head in his hands. The hallway he was currently in was dark, musty, wet, and suffocating. It was here he was sent to wait after he'd finished the first trial and here he was now that he'd finished the second trial. As things were going he was not looking forward to the next trial.

He straightened up and played with his hands as he tried to remember all the reasons he had to come out of the final trial alive. Well, surely there was Temari. Temari was a huge reason. He supposed Kankurou and Gaara might not also be too happy that he was dead. They would be at least marginally unhappy. His mother would go into state if she found that after the whole rift he had with her on leaving, he'd only done so to get himself killed by 'those creatures'. Ino would certainly be mad. And, well…if he ignored all the people who would be upset if he died, there was also the fact that he _didn't want to die_…

Shikamaru took a deep breath. According to the woodsy fairy, he'd be heading into the arena for the last trial in about five minutes.

They'd explained the last trial to him.

In all honesty, coming out alive of this one would be almost impossible. Entirely impossible if he was willing to be honest with himself. The only way he'd survive was if by some unusual miracle Kano exploded on the spot just as the timer began.

Frankly, he still wasn't sure how he'd managed to get out of the first trial alive. Those creepy little things had almost bitten him apart._ The Merkeets guard the green emerald. That's why they're surrounding the mountain cliff. _They said. _Don't worry about the Merkeets,_ they said_, They will help you in this trial_. Stupid misleading fairies. Tricking him. He tried to go to the cliff and was attacked by a hoard of five fuzzy, violet, dark eyed, sharp-toothed monsters. He was fortunate enough not to get the entire group of Merkeets attempting to kill him. The results of attempting to walk past them was that his leg bled insanely, his arms were scratched horribly, and his clothing ripped to pieces. Shikamaru had then sat on a rock safely away from the fuzzy things and stared up at the green jewel trying to figure out if there was more than one ploy he was being fed.

When he stopped to think about it, and put together what he knew about fairies, he knew there was some grain of truth in what they'd told him. He just had to find out what it was.

Luckily, he did figure it out.

He'd lured a lone fuzzy monster away from the huge crowd and gotten the creepy to rip apart a tree he was sure contained the emerald they wanted him to get.

From what he'd heard he'd barely gotten it in time too.

Although, the second trial wasn't that difficult. It was actually pretty simple considering.

He still didn't think the last trial would be easy, if at all possible.

Kirai had stopped in the hallway after the second trial for a bit and commented in shock how the entire fairy population was impressed by his ability to answer the riddle such a short amount of time. "What made you so sure?" She'd asked.

"I don't know. I just…I just knew." He liked riddles. Maybe that was why.

The curious fairy princess watched him evenly. "I still don't see it honestly. Why she loves you, I mean. You're fleshy, non-magical, and obviously an entirely different species. It boggles the mind." Kirai paused. "But, I don't suggest dying on her. She seems a bit fragile. Although, I would be too if I'd gone through everything she had." In a lower voice she added carefully, "Don't be surprised, if you can – if there are things that you still possess that you've been told you shouldn't posses. Plans are in motion." Just then she squeezed her eyes tight and a portion on her upper shoulder began to glow. Shikamaru had watched in avid amazement as fairy words seemed to carve into her skin leaving marks similar to those on other parts of her body. She opened her eyes lightly and looked at the new mark. She scoffed, "Figures."

"What does it say?" He found himself asking.

"Aid." She smiled wryly. "Isn't that nice?" Kirai straightened. "Best of luck human."

Shikamaru recalled the interaction distantly, as if it had transpired days ago rather than minutes ago. He looked at the knuckle blade in his hand. Here he was supposed to last five minutes alive in a fight with pretending fae king with his senses blacked out and a hand blade as his weapon. How on earth was he going to survive? Magic against no magic was deeply unfair.

He let out a deep breath.

Living was imperative. Temari would cause hell for him in the afterlife if he died. He still wasn't sure of the limits of fae, but he was quite certain Temari would not let him die peacefully and that would just be…troublesome.

The woodsy fairy appeared in the hallway. "It's time."

Shikamaru stood up begrudgingly and followed after the tall fairy fingering his weapon. Now when a plan would be duly appreciated was when his mind seemed to be broken. Hopelessly broken. He grimaced as he imagined the worst thing that could happen. He didn't think death at the hands of a powerful fairy would be nice to go through.

Not that he thought death at anyone's hand would be nice.

Ugh.

Shikamaru hesitated right outside the doorway. Fae infrastructure was peculiar. The hallway was still dark and musty, but as soon as he stepped outside, the light of the arena and gentle smell of earth suddenly ensconced and covered him as if by magic. It probably was magic.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Courage, maybe?" Shikamaru grumbled.

The wood fairy pushed him forward firmly. Shikamaru scowled in irritation, then he looked in front of him and wished desperately to be anywhere else. Right in the middle of the arena stood the acting fairy king, with his dark feathery wings curving around him, his dark eyes sharp and clear, smooth alabaster skin shimmering ever-so-slightly, thin lips pulled into a cruel smile, and a very large very sharp sword in his hand.

Oh, it was just so unfair to die _now_ of all times.

"Falynne," Kano said coolly, motioning to those beside him, "Amun, Jiyitl and Kirai, the bind." The horned fairy, dark woman, translucent male, and the princess connected hands and began murmuring something. Shikamaru didn't even have time to collect and smother his fears before everything went black.

He wasn't _unconscious_; Shikamaru understood that right away because his mind was still working. But he could no longer see what was in front of him, nor hear, nor could he feel the cool metal of the blade in his hands. There was no scent in the air and no lingering taste of blood in his mouth. He felt no pain, but felt so lost and detached. If he hadn't been told this would happen, Shikamaru would be afraid that he'd already died.

_Move. _His brain urged. Whether or not he could sense something happening, _something_ was and if he stood still he would be struck in an instant. Shikamaru moved, or at least, he hoped he was moving and tried to formulate a survival tactic.

He was coming up short.

If he could not hear, see, or feel, he would not be able to know if he was moving away from the opponent, hidden amongst the trees, or in plain sight. For all he knew he could be knocking perpetually against a tree trunk, he could be lying sprawled on the floor, or he could be running into Kano's very blade. If he could not feel, he would not know if he was struck or if he struck Kano – he probably wouldn't even realize he was dead until, well, until he stopped thinking altogether – or whatever happened when one died.

Shikamaru cursed under his breath, or at least, imagined he did.

_**See! **_A leathery voice demanded somewhere inside his head.

Suddenly, fuzzy images started to appear in his vision. Trees, light, a sword. Instantly Shikamaru lifted the hand he'd remembered holding the blade last to block the swipe of the sword gunning straight for his heart.

_**Hear!**_

The clang of metal boomed around him, but was dulled as if his ears were plugged.

In front of him, Kano's lips twisted into a growl of fury and he charged again; Shikamaru scrambled back. What was he to do? For some reason he could see and hear now. It wasn't – It wasn't as clear as ever. His vision was blurry and hazy; his hearing was muffled and awkward, but it was there.

It was there nonetheless.

_Don't be surprised, if you can – if there are things that you still possess that you've been told you shouldn't posses. Plans are in motion._

What had they done?

Shikamaru ducked as Kano swung his sword again.

Shikamaru clenched his teeth; he could wonder what they'd done later. Now was not the time. He'd been given a gift, and if he yielded it well, he might just survive. Shikamaru strengthened his grip on the blade.

Play time.

Kano swung, Shikamaru dodged.

Kano advanced; Shikamaru tried his best to retreat.

Kick.

Punch.

_Slice_.

Jump.

Twist.

_Run_.

Shikamaru still did not have use of his sense of touch. He was glad he didn't. His body looked badly mangled in certain places, he seemed to breathing incredibly haggardly, and he was sure that if he was aware of the acute pain in his limbs he would collapse from agony rather than muster the strength to dodge Kano's attacks.

"ENOUGH!" Kano roared angrily, his features twisted into pure rage.

Shikamaru swallowed.

He was in trouble.

Kano's wings flapped around his frame heavily and something in his hands began to glow.

Oh, he was in _big_ trouble.

"He's only got five seconds folks!" Some announcer said distantly.

Five seconds. Five seconds.

Shikamaru swallowed – if this didn't kill him, he would win.

If only, if only – if only he could do something to make Kano turn to the side then the magic wouldn't hit him. If only Shikamaru could do _something_.

_**See! Hear! **_

Something bubbled up in Shikamaru's hands, before he could think twice he acted on impulse and let the electrical current take over.

There was an explosion – light blaring all over the arena, the announcer calling the trial over, and a heavy silence in the crowds.

_**Feel!**_

Shikamaru fell to his knees and screamed as a horrible pain crept through every pore in his body. Then everything went black again – and this time not even his brain was still awake.

xXxXx

"LET ME IN!"

"Temari, I can't let you in!" A voice complained in exasperation.

"FUCK RULES, DAMMIT. LET ME THE HELL IN OR I'LL SCREW YOUR HEAD OFF YOUR BODY AND USE IT AS MY OWN PERSONAL JUGGLING BALL!"

"There's nothing you can do right now!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO!"

"I damn well will tell you what you can and can't do. I'm the damn fucking princess. Not quit yelling at me and give me five damn seconds to do what I need to do. Where the hell is Gaara? He should be keeping you under control!"

"HE'S BUSY ARGUING WITH THAT FUCKER; NOW LET ME IN!" Something slammed open, and he was sure Temari had stormed in.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru croaked, as he attempted to open his eyes and sit up.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Two female voices screamed at him.

Finally managing to open his eyes, he was greeted only by two very malevolent and absolutely terrifying women. Oh crap, had he died and gone to hell? Is that why he was being yelled at? "I'm just—"

"Sit _down_." Kirai ordered.

Temari pushed him down by force.

Shikamaru winced.

Kirai sighed in exasperation. "Aggressive woman."

No…No, this was not hell. Temari was always yelling at him. Then that meant…somehow he must have survived. In that case, what was with all that pain he remembered right before everything disappeared? "What…What happened?"

The two women froze.

Shikamaru tried sitting up again.

Temari shoved him back again and pursed her lips. "Wanna take this, princess?"

Kirai placed her tattooed hands on his chest and chanted a few words under her breath. Shikamaru waited patiently, rather enjoying the feeling that was emitting from her hands. It was a very peaceful feeling; from the way the pain in his chest was dulling he assumed it was some sort of healing practice. After a few minutes, Kirai removed her hands and sighed, "I sort of have the same question."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kano was just about to kill you with his own brand of magic when all of a sudden," Kirai explained, "your shadow grows from your feet to connect with his and upon connecting, you move slightly to the left causing Kano's hocus pocus to explode on the arena wall rather than at you. Then just like that, before the smoke had even cleared, you were on the floor, unconscious. I assume it was from the wounds you suffered."

Shikamaru blinked. "My shadow did what?"

Kirai attempted to explain, "It sort of controlled Kano's." She paused. "Is that alchemy?"

"I did _what_?" Shikamaru asked still not understanding it. His shadow _connected_ to another's shadow, and he _moved_ Kano like that? "Are you sure I did that?"

"Yes, we're sure. I've never seen that magic before, so I assumed it was—"

"That is not alchemy. That's physically _impossible_." Shikamaru responded. Kirai had to have her facts mixed up. That could not have procured.

Temari shrugged. "I told you it wasn't alchemy."

Kirai closed her eyes. "Oh, boy. Then we're in for a heap of trouble." The lithe fairy turned, but froze in her place. She cocked her head to the left and rolled her eyes. "Kano."

Shikamaru stiffened.

The atmosphere of the room changed as soon as the dark fairy walked in. He was followed by the others: Falynne, Amun, and Jiyitl. "What did you do to me creature?" Kano hissed.

Shikamaru stood up shakily, ignoring Temari's glare. "I don't know. I wasn't even aware I'd done anything."

"You think we believe that!" Falynne scoffed. "We don't trust you."

"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant, since I _don't_ know what happened."

"I knew he was a danger to us the minute I laid eyes on him!" Jiyitl snarled.

Kirai stiffened. "Oh, come off it! It's not like he hurt anybody!"

"He turned Kano to the left without touching him!" said Falynne.

"We can do things just as peculiar!"Kirai retorted.

"But he is not a fairy!" Falynne hissed. "His experiments on our kind are being used for the creation of weapons for the human species. We _must_ destroy him."

"We must do no such thing!" The fairy princess snapped.

"You would let him continue harming our kind?" Kano asked softly. "Princess, you would endanger your own?"

Kirai hesitated. "I…They aren't a danger to us. They're just idiots in love!"

"I've seen the power before." Amun interrupted quietly, almost casually.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Quite a long time ago actually. When I was a bit younger. Belonged to a dying breed of an interesting fairy family. The trait wasn't being passed on so the family was rather upset. The last one I heard who possessed the power was a gentle man with graying hair. Adiaré Shiindar. Of course, with Adiaré's disappearance the whole hype and existence of the shadow gift of the Shiindar fairies died off." Amun's face fell, "Such a shame too. I heard it was a fantastic gift. And now that I've seen it wielded for something more than picking an apple off a tree, I have to admit it's rather amazing in combat."

Falynne's mouth was open wide. "Are you implying that this human is-is-is a fairy?!"

Amun shrugged, his eyes boring into Shikamaru's figure. "You have to admit it's peculiar."

"That's ridiculous. When Adiaré banished himself from our group he gave up his right to his longevity. If this human was Adiaré he would have died already of consumption. His body would reject him."

Shikamaru swallowed. "Wouldn't such a problem be treatable?"

"Not for fairies." Jiyitl said gravely, "in fairies, when one rejects the way of the fae, the body manifests consumption in a form of untreatable sort of cancer to the fairy."

_Oh, crap. _

"Shikamaru," Temari muttered slowly, "what was your grandfather's name? The one your father attempted to make a wish for health of?"

Shikamaru hesitated. "Shiindar Adiaré."

Amun's eyes glittered in appreciation. "So you _are_ of the Shiindar. I'd never thought I'd seen another again in my life. How utterly extraordinary."

Falynne spluttered.

Jiyitl looked on in distrust.

Kano looked utterly murderous.

"You're part fairy." Kirai murmured softly. "Well, I'll be."

"Who cares if he's part fairy!?" Falynne screeched. "He is still a danger to our kind."

"He _is_ our kind, Falynne!" Kirai retorted.

"He doesn't identify himself with us. He's been brought up and taught by humans. He holds no loyalty toward us. Plus, he can _lie_. He is more human than fairy." Falynne hissed.

"He is not a danger!" Kirai screamed. "If he were, he never would have bothered being so blatantly obvious about everything!"

"I vote for his acceptance in our society." Amun said coolly. "Given that he will be willing to show me more of his skill, naturally."

Shikamaru nodded.

"I vote against." Falynne hissed.

"Against." Kano repeated.

Jiyitl's eyes passed over him in scrutiny. "I vote for his acceptance."

Kirai smirked. "Guess what, Kano? I vote for his acceptance too. Three against two – you fucking lose."

Kano's eyes narrowed briefly, only to be contradicted by the smile pulling across his lips the next moment. "Where is your stone, Kirai?"

A flash of worry spread across the tattooed girl's features. "H-here." She murmured holding up ruby stone up from a leather cord around her neck hurryingly hiding it behind her clothes again.

"It's fake." Kano commented idly.

"It's _not _a fake s-stone." Kirai stammered.

"You mean to tell me the red stone you just showed me is your long-held family stone? The stone that confirms your power and has confirmed royalty power for generations?"

"I…"

"Just tell me it's the real stone. The real one."

"I…" Kirai hung her head. "I can't."

"Do you even have the real one?"

"No." Kirai hissed angrily. "I don't."

Kano laughed deeply and cruelly. "Then your opinion doesn't matter. In that case," Kano stared cruelly at Kirai and then at him. "Only my opinion matters. I am King."

"Fuck you, you lecher of life!" Kirai spat angrily. "I am the _rightful_ holder of the damned throne and you know it!"

"Without your stone or a husband, you can claim not a speck of power, you insolent creature!"

A loud smack was heard throughout the room, and Kirai lay crumpled on the floor, blooding flowing from her mouth. "Mark my words, Kano. I will kill you. I will kill you, and I will watch in enjoyment as I do. You will pay for all the suffering you've caused and will cause."

"Petty words." Kano scoffed. "Falynne, get the authorities to lock up the pretend princess and set up a date for her execution."

"Kano –" Amun paused, "I mean, your highness, what crime has the foal committed that warrants her death?"

"She spoke back to me and threatened me. Disrespectful thing."

Amun closed his eyes. "She is the last of her line, Kano."

"Do not let your fascination for power traits obscure your line of thought. You always said she was a weak girl. Incapable of ruling anything. Will you now side with her?"

Amun looked sadly at Kirai. "No, your highness. With you. As always."

"Jiyitl?"

"With you of course, your highness."

Kano smirked. "Your death, human, will be set up soon. I look forward to watching you die at the hands of Amun."

Amun pressed his lips together.

"Your highness," Jiyitl interrupted suddenly, "Kirai is gone."

Indeed, Kirai was longer sitting on the floor or anywhere else in the room for that matter. She'd slipped away unnoticed.

Fury flashed through his eyes. "Find her." Kano looked at them, "You two will be watched carefully. Nothing will keep your deaths away."

"Deaths?" Shikamaru croaked.

"Yes, your lover has irritated me far too much. You will both die here."

"She didn't do anything!" Shikamaru protested. "She is no danger to you."

Kano laughed. "As if that matters to me." The dark fairy swept out of the room, closing the door behind him. The room was left empty, filled with echoes of death, horror, and the stench of betrayal.

Beside him, Temari crumpled to her knees. "Why does nothing ever work out right?"

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**A/N:** I hate FF's new formatting. Grr. It's annoying. I was so confused for a bit on how to upload a doc.


	6. Bonds and Tangled Twists of Life

**Ch.5: Bonds and the Tangled Twists of Life**

**

* * *

**

Temari stared at the cold floor in front of her. The smooth stone licked her knuckles ever so interestingly. She felt Shikamaru sit beside her, "Temari—"

"Shut up for a second." Her brow furrowed.

Did she do something in a past life that somehow subjugated her to this constant barrage of horrible incidents? Dammit, _nothing_ she could have done would justify this awful nonsense. Nothing. That was just _it_! She was damn tired of sitting around and hoping the system would allow it all to work out. Well, twiddle-dee-dum, it was time to start a riot.

When the system fucked you over for long enough, it was time to fuck with the system.

"Hey! _Hey_!" Temari snapped at the guy guarding the door, "Yes, _you_, jerk!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "What are you—?"

"Come inside, idiot!" She continued yelling at the guard.

The fairy tentatively walked inside looking about in worry. "Uh…I…"

"How did Kano _know_?"

He fidgeted. "I don't know what—"

"How did he know Kirai's stone was fake?" Temari snapped again.

The fairy fidgeted.

"Tell me or I'll crack your skull open AND pull your intestines out with my bare hands." She threatened.

The guy stared in shock, "You-you can't…you can't!"

"The worst that can happen to me if I brutally kill you is I get sentenced to death – oh, wait, I'M ALREADY SENTENCED TO DEATH!" Temari shot a glare at Shikamaru upon feeling him ready to speak, "Don't mess with me, I'll fucking murder you too."

Shikamaru wisely shut his mouth and said nothing.

Temari faced the fairy again. "Now are you going to tell me, or am I going to have get violent?"

The fairy stepped away nervously. "Chiyo! The witch! Chiyo!" The guy scrambled out of the room and stopped outside of the door, putting a wall between them once more. Temari could see him in the window looking back at them in nervousness.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Shikamaru said slowly, "But Chiyo is the witch who originally cursed you, Gaara, and Kankurou right?"

"That _bitch_!" Temari snarled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." He muttered.

Temari began pacing up and down the room. "She…she…ugh!" Temari quickly explained the entire trade with Chiyo that she and Kirai set up to Shikamaru all while she cursed the witch's existence in-between sentences.

"I see."

"That's all you have to say!?" Temari snapped. "That witch has just screwed with me _again_ and all you can say is 'I see'?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I dunno, how about, 'Chiyo, you dumb fuck, I want you in this room right here, right now, so I can pummel you!'"

"That really won't do anything, though—" Shikamaru sighed at a glare she sent him, "Fine. Chiyo, I want you in this room right here, right now, so that Temari can pummel you or whatever else she feels like doing."

Temari was quite ready to strangle him, when a loud crash sounded out through the room. Temari ducked immediately. When it turned out that despite the noise she seemed quite alive, she looked around tentatively. Shikamaru was seated on the floor (he'd probably fallen backward from the shock) with eyes wide and mouth agape. And right in front of Shikamaru was a dumbfounded Chiyo sitting on the floor with a toppled desk beside her.

"Holy fuck." Temari muttered. "Is she really…?"

"What—?" Chiyo hissed. Her eyes narrowed, "_You two_. What did you do to me?"

Temari's temper flared. "What did _we_ do to _you_?" She tried to lunge at her, but found that she couldn't move. She tugged again and then the bind disappeared.

Chiyo's brow furrowed. "That looks familiar…"

Temari then noticed briefly that Shikamaru's shadow had elongated again. She shook the thought out of her mind, "What the hell did you sell us out for!? I ought to kill you!"

Chiyo straightened up, her eyebrows creased in confusion. "What did you expect, fairy? I hate your family and I saw an out. I took it." She smirked, "I was not allowed to harm you, your siblings, or this one," she gestured to Shikamaru, "but I am completely free when it comes to divulging the fae princess's secrets. The harm to you I did not directly inflict."

Temari gritted her teeth, "I'm going to _kill_ you."

"You never could, what makes you think you can now?" She sneered.

"Temari, don't." Shikamaru snapped.

She balled up her fists. "Why not? Why can't I—?" She stopped. "Fine. I won't." Temari turned back to the witch. "You better be there when Amun kills me. I don't want to have to search too far for the person I want to haunt."

"Oh, don't worry, fairy; I'll be there to watch the last speck of life drain from your eyes."

Shikamaru stood up. "Leave." His eyes were dark and angry. Temari fleetingly wondered if he was asking her to leave because _he_ didn't want to resort to physical violence.

Chiyo looked annoyed, "I will not—"

"Chiyo, I said leave. I do not want you here right now."

Chiyo looked about ready to snap something at him, but then her brows furrowed, and she exited the room quite silently.

Temari stared after her and frowned. Why did…? Something screwy was going on…

"Temari?" Shikamaru prodded.

"I…I'm fine." Temari shook her head to clear her thoughts. She paused, "Hey, Shikamaru, can I try something?"

He looked at her skeptically, "I don't see why not."

"How do you do that shadow thing?"

He shrugged, "I just…I want to do it." He blinked, "It's weird, kind of like I want move somebody, but can't do it manually, so I feel like I'm moving, but I'm not…Like I'm stretching."

She sat down on the floor and concentrated. "Stretching. Okay." She squeezed her eyes tight and imagined doing so. She felt a light tug, a weird elastic feeling, but it snapped back immediately.

"You can do it?" Shikamaru's voice was hushed and shocked.

"Bingo." Temari smirked.

"You want to explain this to me?"

"Just wanted to make sure our blood had intermingled as it was supposed to."

"Again, care to explain?"

Temari looked at him, his expression confused. "You see, when a fairy marries another fairy, there is this…magical thing. Okay, you know how Kankurou and Gaara insisted you cut your hand and I cut my hand and we squeeze those hands? That's a stupid ritual in fae marriage. The point in that is symbolic AND magical. What it does is signify that the two married fae become one and it also, through the magical marriage crap, intermingles the blood and blood qualities. So, that means, that we become the same family and powers become shared." Temari explained calmly. "Obviously, this usually does not pertain to physical appearance which is why you don't have wings, but only applies to inner power which only a few special fae have."

"So…it's magic sharing?"

"Yeah."

"And you being able to do the shadow things is proof that our…blood intermingles?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you need to know that?"

Temari hesitated. "I…I don't really know."

Shikamaru rubbed his shoulder absently. "Interesting."

There was a light cough.

They both turned to view who'd come in.

"Baki," Temari sighed, "what, is our death seat ready?"

The sadness in Baki's eyes was evident and Temari was reminded again of some of the goodness of the fae in the fairy court. It was a shame Kano was in charge. "Yes."

Shikamaru stretched up and Temari followed suit. While cracking his knuckles, Shikamaru asked almost dismissively, "What exactly is death from Amun like?"

"Ordinary." Temari replied just as Baki responded "Painful."

"So, ordinarily painful. Lovely."

Temari sighed. "Alright, fine. Amun specializes in electricity. He will burn through skin charring you from the inside slowly until even your outside are burned. At the end you are nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor. It's a lengthy and excruciating process." Temari winced as she thought about it. This was not going to be a very happy death.

"I am truly sorry, Temari." Baki apologized to her. He paused, and bowed slightly to Shikamaru. "I am sorry. You have been treated unfairly, both as a human and as one of our kind."

Temari waved dismissively. "Don't be. You didn't sentence us to death."

Temari and Shikamaru followed silently after Baki, going through turn after turn after turn. They stopped at the same door they had stood before in their first meeting with the fae council. Temari squeezed Shikamaru's hand. "I love you, even if your part human."

Shikamaru pressed his lips against hers. Soft skin, teeth, tongues…It was soft, then passionate, then angry, then gentle and soft again. "I love you Temari, because you're _everything_ you are."

Temari chuckled softly. "Cross-species romantic relationships are the only kind of relationship worth having."

"Damn straight."

"You're expected." Baki said apologetically.

Temari nodded and pushed the ornate door open.

Hello, death.

They walked into the large room, but this time, the lights were all appropriately on illuminating the vastness of the room. The walls stretched on for what seemed like forever, the walkway looked small compared to the intricate winding of stairs all around the thin stretch of concrete that drifted down to unknown portions of the building – some even went so far as to dip into the dark pool or water collected bellow. The chairs at the end of the walkway were different now. Two increasingly large and pillowy chairs of the same substance as before sat in the middle, the gel strands though weaved about to spell charms of leadership and protection across the back of the chairs. The chair to the left was considerably more ornate. To the far left sat Amun, black robed and violet gloved staring idly at his shoe in the same chair he'd been in before. Next to Amun sat an eager Jiyitl. There were also three other figures seated now, not that Temari knew who the added council was, but they all looked vindictive and sinister. Last, an interested Chiyo sat at the left of the entire dais, separated from the whole.

Temari stopped by the stairs leading up to the dais. "So how are we doing this, oh-great-asshole-of-fuckers?"

Kano narrowed his eyes.

"So now we can insult them?" Shikamaru asked lightly.

"Hell, we're already sentenced to death." Temari reasoned, "What's the fun in being doomed to die if you don't take advantage of the situations to tell your killers they're A BUNCH OF FREAKING PATHETIC LOSERS." Temari raised her voice significantly, casting Kano and Falynne smirks. She cast a glance at Chiyo and wondered if her suspicions were indeed correct.

"Amun!" Kano snapped. "Kill them."

Amun's watery eyes looked over at them in disinterest. He tugged lightly at his gloves and stood from his chair. As he moved toward them, his footsteps made such a clear purposeful noise which reverberated throughout the room. Stupid convenient bastards. They only let footsteps make noise in a room when it was clearly meant to intimidate.

The light went straight through his skin, accentuating more precisely the veins and capillaries underneath. He stopped right in front of them and inclined his head. The rich purple gloves were annoyingly eye-catching. He sighed and turned back around to face Kano and the council. "Unfortunately, at this time, I find that what you demand…is…well, stupid and impossible. I cannot and will not kill these two." He turned to look at Temari and Shikamaru again.

Kano's eyebrow ticked. "_What_?" He seethed.

Temari tried to understand _what _was going on and when it would be best to act out on her theory.

Amun shrugged, "I don't see how it should be a surprise." He turned slightly so that he could look at the acting fairy king, "I never quite professed loyalty to you did I, Kano? And I'd always told you what interested me was what I could see in various powers."

"So you chose the useless chit vagabond over me?"

Amun looked in boredom at the ceiling. "Anyone would be better than you. I'm tired of having to play your dog for far too long. I am my own, Kano." Amun clenched his fists. Temari was surprised, that was the first actual sign of emotion (other than interest at powers) that she'd seen of him. "And I hate someone trying to take such freedoms away." The flash of anger left as soon as it appeared. "Plus, how could I kill not only the last of _two_ powerful lines, but a winged fae? I would be struck down for such disgrace."

Kano's eyes flashed. "Insolence! Fine, I will kill you three _myself_." A blue ball of energy began to form in his hands.

Temari spoke without thinking. Fuck the perfect moment – she was not going to die here. "CHIYO, I ORDER YOU TO KILL KANO!"

The ball in Kano's hands immediately spluttered out and every single person in the room stared at her if she was the craziest woman in the world.

"What?" Chiyo hissed.

Temari swallowed and prayed she was right. "You heard me. I said, _kill Kano_."

Kano laughed. "You have got to be joking me." He smirked. "The witch hates you."

"But she's finding it incredibly hard right now not to do what I say." Temari replied, slightly relieved that Chiyo did in fact look uncomfortable. Temari slowly began to feel more confident in her plan. "Come on, Chiyo. You know you'll do it. By the line of Shiindar, I order you to do as I say. _The line of Adiaré Shiindar_."

Chiyo's eyes widened. "I _knew_ I'd seen that power before."

"Now." Temari snapped.

The atmosphere in the room was tight and expectant.

Kano laughed it off again. "Enough." He spoke calmly. "I'm done with this foolishne—" Anything else Kano might have said after that was never to be heard again as the floor crumbled underneath the main throne sending him falling straight to the dark pool below.

Temari let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

Amun clicked his tongue. "Uncanny. Killed by the pool of shadows that Adiaré himself created."

Falynne stared slack-jawed at the hole in the ground.

Temari noticed Chiyo teleport out. She thought it was a fairly smart move on the witch's part.

Falynne looked at them with fury in her eyes. "You killed him."

Temari chuckled uncertainly, "Technically, I only ordered Chiyo to kill him. So…"

"I want them dead!" She screamed.

Amun smirked ever-so-slightly, "Falynne, you really can't order that on your own. We live in patriarchy."

Falynne ground her teeth, "Fine, vote for their death!"

That shouldn't have been too hard of a request Temari imagined; it was Kano's council after all.

Shikamaru shifted. "Could we just summon Chiyo again and have her kill the lot of them."

"That would lead to never-ending revenge and death." Amun asked, "Quite bloody, wouldn't you say?"

"HAH!" Falynne snarled, "Five out five votes!"

Amun held up a hand, "I believe you cannot order any sentence until the entire council has spoken. Whether I was intended to stay on the council or not, Kano did not kick me out before his…" Amun smirked, "end."

"Your vote will not change the outcome." Falynne snapped.

"Nonetheless." He spoke as always, without a hint of emotion in his voice, but a small smile upon his lips confusing Temari to no end. "Before I vote, I feel I know not enough of this fae. One question before I vote."

Falynne looked ready to rip someone to shreds.

"I am curious of your incredible intelligence, Shiindar fae." Amun said lazily, "Here's a riddle for you:

_I am opposite of wrong _

_But not always correct._

_I am not empty_

_And can fit no more._

_Wrongdoing, I cannot do_

_For I prevent that very thing._

_Err I do, but only last._

_Two words I am made up of._

What am I?"

Falynne growled. "We _don't_ have—"

"I will vote after this, Falynne. Surely, you can hold off your vengeance for a bit." Amun stared at them both purposefully with light in his eyes. Temari knew something was up, but she couldn't figure out what. Looking at Shikamaru, it was obvious he was getting a vague idea. His lips moved slowly.

_Righelrulder?_

Shikamaru lifted his head. "You are…" He paused. "_The rightful ruler_."

Amun smirked just as the doors swung open. Temari turned to see behind her, greeted with a furious Kirai. Her marks were glowing, her eyes were burning, and her fists were clenched. "I'm gone playing games. I want my chair!"

Falynne narrowed her eyes. "You hold no power over this throne any more. Any power you once had is gone with your stone."

Kirai's lips curved up into a smile. "And what, you do? Don't make me laugh. You have no claim!"

"Kano was king and _I_ am his wife. His blood has mixed with mine. He may be dead, but I still have _every_ claim! Besides, even if you kill me you will not take my kingdom! We have already established you have no claim."

"Dead?" Kirai commented. "Well, that is of little consequence." She continued. "You are not queen, Falynne! And Kano was no king." Kirai smiled vindictively. "You were not then and you especially aren't now. Claiming such a thing is a blight against the _real_ king of fae – and to an extent the queen of fae."

"The real king and queen are dead!"

"I find, Falynne," Kirai continued, "that I am quite alive." She waved to the door. "I also believe that the king is alive as well."

Falynne fury seemed to reach impossible points; she lobbed a sparkling blue energy ball completely like Kano's straight at Kirai, which incidentally, would hit Shikamaru and her if they didn't duck. Without thinking, Temari kicked Shikamaru at the knees so that he fell to the floor and she dropped down to the floor with him. The ball flew straight at Kirai. Temari winced and was surprised at the fear she held for Kirai's safety that filled her. Then, the ball…_stopped_. It faded to nothingness right before Kirai.

"W-W-What did you do?!" Falynne stuttered.

Kirai wasn't smiling anymore; she looked a bit relieved actually. "Good. I was afraid that wouldn't work. I don't have much faith in the damned power – never having used it before."

"What the hell is going on?" Temari murmured.

Then as Gaara stepped through the door, everything began to make sense.

"The imperative point, Falynne, is what you are attempting to do to my queen."

Kirai scowled. "Don't call me your queen. It's rather possessive, I think."

Gaara rolled his eyes.

Stretching across Gaara's skin, was a string of words and glowing symbols. The same words that were imprinted on Kirai's skin were visible on Gaara's. Temari stood up abruptly. "Hold on! You did the binding ritual thing? With _my_ youngest brother?"

Kirai nodded.

"Weren't you—?"

"This is hardly the time, Temari." Gaara interjected smoothly.

"Falynne!" Kirai snapped. "I will only say this once more. Get off my fucking throne and quite claiming it yours."

Falynne's eyes flashed furiously. "You'll have to kill me first."

Kirai shrugged. "Will do." But before she could move an inch, Gaara had already lifted his hand, sending a spike made of sand straight through Falynne's heart. Kirai looked in bafflement as Falynne fell to the ground. Falynne fell to the edge of the dais down into the abyss of endless stairs her screams echoing horribly throughout the air. "Oh, that is so not fair," Kirai mumbled. "I was going to do that." She pouted. "First Kano up and dies on me and now you kill Falynne."

"The rest of you," Gaara snapped at the council members, "your membership is revoked, but keep in mind we will be watching you carefully. Go." The creepy fairies all pretty much scrambled clean away as soon as he said 'go'. They were afraid of him, that much was evident.

"Except you, Amun." Kirai added with a sigh. "You always helped me before and you helped me even now. It would be an honor if you agreed to stay part of my council."

"Will I have to swear my loyalty?" He asked in jaded tone.

Kirai shrugged. "Of sorts. Not the kind Kano liked to demand. I'd just like you to promise not to participate in any plots to kill me or take my throne. If you have problems with my–"she paused, "_our_ ruling you can just say it. And if that doesn't work and you still want to kill me, then let me know. I won't kill you, but I'll, you know, dismiss you as an advisor and watch my back."

Amun's lips twitched up into a smile. "Very well. I swear my loyalty – my full loyalty – to the new king and queen: Kirai and Gaara."

"CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON TO ME?!" Temari screamed, finally annoyed with the events.

"Frankly," Kirai snapped in annoyance, "I'd like to know the exact same thing! Why is there a whole where my throne should be and why is Kano _dead_!?"

Shikamaru dusted off his clothes as she stood. "It's obvious isn't it? Your brother and Kirai did the intermingling-blood thing and now they are king and queen of the fae. I assume some sort of power thing is included when you become king and queen like the power sharing you explained earlier to me which would explain how and why Kirai could block Kano's attack. And apparently, Amun had something to do with allowing Kirai and Gaara to do what was necessary."

"B-but, you're against the whole marriage crap!" Temari accused Kirai.

"Yes. And?"

Temari curled her fingers in the front of Kirai's shirt and pulled her up, "Then why the hell did you marry my brother?" Sure, she was alive. Sure, Shikamaru was alive. But she did not want this skinny twit in a union with her brother just for convenience's sake. Gaara was worth so much more than that. She would not stand for her brother being used.

"Let me down, yes?" Kirai smiled, "I want to show you something."

Temari let the princess down and tapped her feet impatiently. "Well?"

Kirai lifted her shirt up slightly to show an intricate sign marked upon her belly. It wove in and out with dots and dashes here and there. Temari cocked her head and her brow furrowed. "Bullshit."

"Love?" Shikamaru mumbled. "It says 'love'?"

"How new is this crap?" Temari snapped.

"I told you Gaara and I had met before right, Temari?"

"Yes." Temari replied tersely.

"It's been there since the very first time we met. I didn't understand it then, and when I did get what it meant, I denied it. Love or not, there's no fucking way I would feel okay with marriage." Kirai shrugged, "Of course, sometimes life calls for a risk on my part. Besides, Gaara doesn't seem like a power hungry type."

Temari looked back at her youngest brother. "You love my brother?"

Kirai smiled lightly. "If I didn't it wouldn't have been so easy to manipulate me into helping you make that trade with the witch." She shrugged. "If anything I should be mad at Gaara for using that against me. Jerk, probably knew that all along."

"Gaara, you…" Temari paused and looked between the two of them. "Do you l-love her?" Somehow, it didn't seem right that her brother should love anybody. Dammit, he was her younger brother, he was not supposed to have or even _want_ a life. "Or did you do it just to—"

"This is getting increasingly lame and cliché," Gaara muttered, "but yes, I do love her. And, Kirai, I was not aware of any emotions on your part."

Kirai scoffed. "Yeah, right." But the smile on her lips gave her dead away. Then she frowned, "So…hole in my dais? Kano not killed by me? Anybody want to explain?"

Shikamaru looked at her, "Actually, Temari, I'd like you to explain that too."

"What? This one isn't obvious?" She teased.

He frowned. "Oh, just tell me."

Temari shrugged. "Okay, see…while we were in that guarded room and you said, by my request, that Chiyo should show up and she did, I started thinking. Then, when you told her to leave, and it was obvious she didn't _want_ to leave, and she did, it got stranger. She even had familiarity with your power." Temari paused, "I was kind of going on a whim to be perfectly honest, but it just seemed uncanny. I imagined that perhaps there was some stupid sort of service your grandpa bound her to. There had to be _some_ reason she did everything you said."

Amun chuckled, "That's good deducting. I had heard a rumor that Adiaré Shiindar had only managed to mingle with the humans for so long because of a witch's aid. That, of course, would only have been possible if the witch was really good friends with him or bound to him." Amun smirked. "With his intelligence, he probably managed that fairly easily."

Shikamaru blinked. "So…she…has to do ANYTHING I order her to do?"

Temari blinked, "You know, I deducted this, but it still makes me think about how unbelievably stupid fate is."

Kirai cleared her throat. "Lovely, really, but how does this explain the hole and Kano's death?"

Temari looked at her, "Oh, well, I ordered her to kill Kano and she created a hole where he was sitting and Kano fell down it into the dark pool of creepiness and died."

Kirai sighed in aggravation. "This is no fair! I was supposed to kill someone. Where is the _vengeance_, dammit!"

Temari looked at her youngest brother. The glowing marks on Gaara were beginning to fade away, almost as if melting into his skin. "What…Why is it fading?" Temari paused. "HEY! AMUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BROTHER?" Amun was currently prodding Gaara all about while Gaara watched the usually bored fairy in trepidation and confusion.

Amun waved dismissively at him. "This is rather interesting. I've never seen a bond in the royal family. I always loved the stories, but this is unreal."

"Mind explaining the story?"

"The marks are a decisive trait of the royals. When one marries another, the marks of the true bearer will be copied onto the partner. The first hour or so, the glowing will be visible just as the original fae, but then the marks will fade almost entirely only resurfacing when or if the bonded fae ever called upon the use of royal magic." He paused, "Part of the reason this dolt didn't want to marry is because any bonded fae will be able to use the stores of her magic at will and she will not have a say. Being the male in their relationship, he will be seen as the leader and what he says will go, so she was afraid her voice and her role would be cut off. She didn't want to relinquish her natural borne right."

"I have a question." Shikamaru interrupted. "I've been assuming that the marks on your skin get etched based on what your soul says you have or have not done, correct?"

Kirai nodded, "Precisely."

Amun stopped poking Gaara and looked at him in interest. "You know, you are rather intelligent. The riddle was just for a small stall, I didn't think you would figure it out."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm constantly surprising people." He sighed. "Does this mean that I'm not getting killed anymore?"

Kirai dropped to the floor. "Of course not. If I suggested the mere thing Temari would try to kill me again. She's a rather violent woman, you realize." Kirai paused, "Besides, I believe it's far worse punishment to continue as her lover than to be killed."

"_Excuse me_?" Temari snapped.

"Hey," Shikamaru interrupted again, trying to ignore the glare Temari was giving him, "Where's Kankurou?"

Gaara shuffled to sit down next to Kirai. "With Baki. They're catching up. He figured we'd have this under control."

Temari's eyebrow twitched. "Doesn't he give a damn what happens to us?"

Temari noted absently how Gaara's hand wrapped around Kirai's gently. The two looked at each other and then blushed, looking immediately to the side in embarrassment. She was careful to see that despite that, they didn't stop holding hands. If anything the grip was tighter.

Temari jumped in shock as she felt Shikamaru's lips on her again. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're taking liberties."

"Liberties, my foot. I damn well deserved this. People wanting to kill me, finding out I'm part fairy, going through trials, having riddles thrown at me continually, getting beat up by evil fairies and my own love – yes, I think I've suffered sufficiently. I need my prize for enduring."

"Me finding out Chiyo is sort of technically you're slave isn't a prize?"

"Hey, _you_ figured it out. That's more of a prize for _you_ than for _me_."

Temari snickered and kissed him firmly. "It's no wonder you always smelled like nature. You're part fairy."

* * *

**A/N:** I could come up with an excuse (both good and not-so good) as to why it's taken me SOOOO long to update, but…I'll just go with the truth. I looked at the fic and didn't like the way I ended it, so I had to revamp it. Of course, by the time I decided that, life decided to be precariously annoying so the few times I wasn't busy, I just wasn't in the _mood_ to write anything long and meaningful. That and my inspiration with this fic seemed to have taken a vacation. So…apologies apologies. Lots of apologies.

I loves you all because you're all superly fantastically awesome. Thankies for reading and reviewing. I love you even if you don't review because you're all still _awesome_. But I just really want to thank Pickles the Great, because was a GREAT help in moving this chapter along. She just ownz. ^_^

Oh, and a special thanks to Miamay Tsuikia-Kage no Miamay who made me realize I forgot to edit a paragraph. (This is what I get for not editing my own work. Stupid stuff slips out and the plot gets confusing.)

So, just the epilogue left, which I'll have up…at the very least by new years.

Merry Christmas/Holidays (whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate)!


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**

* * *

  
**

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Temari snarled, launching after the brunette fairy queen.

Kirai snickered. "Aw, come on, Temari. What's the problem?" She taunted. "Can't you catch me? Are you _that_ slow?"

She jumped over a few chairs with ease, looking the picture of balance as she did so. Temari, on the other hand just kicked the offending chairs out of the way, leaving the seating items slightly battered about on the floor. Kirai, for all her balance, would have been long since caught by Temari if it weren't for the blonde's unusually poor thinking process when furious. Kirai was _slow_ and knew it, but she always knew she could keep from having Temari catch her with a few well placed taunts. And boy, did the girl know how to push the blonde's buttons.

Two fairy women stood on opposite ends of a plain steel table. One livid with fury, the other eyes twinkling in mirth. She liked angering Temari a bit too much than was generally healthy. Underneath the table sat a lanky dark-haired mostly human man reading through a heavy tome. Beside him sat a purple-marked brown haired fairy who was occasionally asked about something in the tome.

The winged fairy tried to lunge across the table, but the glowing fairy twisted away in the nick of time. "Oh, such a shame, Temari!"

Another fairy joined the two resting under the table. "What's the fight about this time?"

Kankurou yawned. "Kirai thought it would be brilliant to have Temari appointed liaison between witches and fairies due to her experience with one of the worst witches in existence." A crash of what was probably porcelain dishes hitting the wall followed the end of his sentence.

"I think I suggested that one." Gaara commented idly.

"YOU _WHAT_?" Temari snarled poking her head underneath the table.

"It's not like you can't do it." Gaara said simply.

"I hate witches!"

"You hate _Chiyo_, I highly doubt you hate witches." Shikamaru added. "You got along quite well with Ino."

"I don't want to be witch-fairy liaison!" Temari snapped. "Why the hell can't Shikamaru do it?" She complained ducking under the table with the rest of them.

Kirai followed suit. "See, this is what I don't get. I make one tiny suggestion—"

"I would hardly call it a suggestion." Temari muttered through gritted teeth.

"And you try to rip me apart," Kirai continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Whereas, Gaara mentions it was his idea and suddenly the urge to mutilate is no longer there. Yelling, yes. But there's no desire to _harm_ him."

"First," Temari snapped, "You didn't make any suggestion; you laughed at me, threw a book at me, and told me in the worst way possible that I would be a witch liaison. Then you made a bunch of comments that could only be meant as inflammatory."

"All in good fun." Kirai defended airily.

"Then you shouldn't be surprised when I went to rip your heart from your throat!"

Shikamaru flipped a page. He was used to this bickering now. He was hard pressed to say it wasn't worse than his and Kankurou's.

"I'm not; I'm just pointing out how unjust it is that you don't want to rip out Gaara's. It really takes _away_ from the fun."

Shikamaru sighed and closed his book and handed it off to Kankurou. He knew what was coming next.

Temari lunged at Kirai.

And froze before she could even touch her.

He released the shadow hold.

Temari looked ready to kill _him_, now.

"Killing the fairy queen would send you to some sort of jail, or death sentence." He reasoned.

"I don't want to kill her; I just want to _hurt_ her."

"Yes, well…I don't think so."

Temari glared at the queen. "So why can't Shikamaru do it? It's obvious he's more clear-headed."

"Because," Kirai replied, "As part human, it makes sense that he would be the _human_ liaison."

"Then make Kankurou the witch liaison!" Temari tried complaining once more.

Gaara shook his head. "Just get over it, Temari."

"I don't want to!" She complained.

Shikamaru wrapped his arms around the winged fairy and murmured in her ear. "Sometimes, you are such a baby that I begin to think you're human."

Temari scowled and smacked him upside the head. "Why the hell do I keep you around?"

"Because I'm charming, and sexy, and can make you smile." He grinned.

Temari tried hard to stay angry, but she couldn't win. "One out of three aint bad." She kissed him soundly.

"I'm just too sexy right?" He retorted.

"Yeah, _that's_ the one I was talking about." She said sarcastically.

She smiled.

"Gaara," Kirai pouted, "Am I sexy?"

"Not really."

"Am I charming?"

"Not really."

"Do I make you smile?"

"Not really."

She scowled. "Jerk."

"You're so much more than all that that it would be insult to agree to any of those." He replied softly.

Kankurou gagged. "Oh, seriously! This family is getting way too damn corny! Where is the anger and depression I used to know and love? The angst, the hate, the pranks! Where'd all the awesomeness go?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Idiot."

Shikamaru reached for the book again, "I suppose the past ten minutes didn't count?"

"That's it." He made his way out from under the table, "I can't be around you anymore. It's all sugar and candy and lovey sickness. It's disgusting. I'm heading off to the fairy council. Amun's at least not a lovesick fool like you lot."

"You're just jealous of our awesomeness, Kankurou!" Kirai giggled.

"You two are sorry excuses for leaders of a species and the other two are just crimes against the world. Seriously! All this cross-species mating. Absolutely shameful."

"That's it!" Kirai snapped, "There is no insulting my remarkable leadership skills!" She chased after him.

You're toast!" Temari snarled, charging after him.

Shikamaru picked up the old tome, "And he says the anger is gone. I think it's still in quite a healthy amount."

Gaara smiled. "Quite so."

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**A/N:** The mushy part between Gaara and Kirai makes me cringe every time, but I could get myself to delete it, so it stays (even if it makes me cringe).

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So, happy New Year tidings to everyone! Hope the coming New Year will be better by far.

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Also, in show of good faith for future ShikaTema writings, I'll let you know that I've been working on three projects to post up at some point in the future. 1) My first ShikaTema chapter fic that _isn't_ AU. That one shall be probably up the quickest. I'm hoping to be able to start posting it up before school starts up again. 2) A ficlet (one to two chapters) that in all likelihood will _not_ have a happy ending, but I find it appealing nonetheless. It's an AU and set in a mental asylum. (This one will take awhile). 3) A fairly recent idea = An AU chapter fic that I'm planning to be humor/romance/and-a-smidgen-of-adventure centered among angels and demons. (This one will also take awhile)

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So thank you for reading, reviewing, and all that stuff. You guys are brilliant!


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